Samsung-sponsored BTS in social media gaffe with iPhone tweet

share on

twitter /
facebook /
linkedin /
- email
- telegram
- whatsapp
- wechat
- pinterest
- line
- snapchat
- reddit

Samsung-sponsored South Korean boy band BTS has come under the spotlight recently after it tweeted a picture from an iPhone. Although the post was taken down, tweets circulating online showed that deleted post was accompanied with the source "Twitter for iPhone".

A quick check by Marketing found that the source of the tweet has now changed to "Twitter for Android", signifying that the tweet came from an Android phone and not an iPhone. The new tweet garnered 710.3K retweets and 1.8 million likes on Twitter at the time of writing. One netizen put it bluntly in the comments section: "They originally tweeted from an iPhone, deleted it, then tweeted this from an Android because they’re sponsored by Samsung. So they’re supposed to use Samsung not iPhone but they’re rebels so."

Samsung officially launched a partnership with BTS earlier in February this year. According to Samsung, the partnership will see Samsung supporting the BTS' global contemporary initiative called CONNECT BTS, and also to allow Samsung to reach out to a younger demographic which makes up a significant chunk of the BTS fan base. It is added that it "would not be surprising" if BTS members start appearing in commercials for Samsung products.

bts iphone fan

bts android

Earlier this month, BTS and its record label Big Hit Entertainment donated US$1 million to non-profit organisation Black Lives Matter, to express its support for the Black Lives Matter movement. In a Twitter post, the official BTS account tweeted: “We stand against racial discrimination. We condemn violence. You, I and we all have the right to be respected. We will stand together.” Shortly after, the fans banded together to match the US$1 million donation by BTS and Big Hit Entertainment.

Separately late last year, its parent company Big Hit Entertainment got involved in a scam, where various South Korean production companies and individuals were allegedly deceived by entertainment insiders who illegally posed as affiliates of the company. The production companies were reportedly approached by entertainment industry insiders, requesting investments funds of more than US$4 million by leveraging the overseas popularity of BTS, reported Allkpop. It added that the industry insiders had allegedly used forged documents with Big Hit Entertainment's official logos which resembled the company's branding to scam victims.

share on