Love Me Tender

For quite some time I wondered what SM Entertainment thought of all the E.L.F. protests. Well, I don’t have to wonder anymore. They have released a message recently with regards to the protests from E.L.F. members who have made four demands. I actually thought it was quite hilarious and a slap in the face for these fans. I am all for protesting and free speech, but choose wisely because frivolous issues like an additional member to an already crowded group just makes free speech look like a joke.

E.L.F. Demands:

1. That SM Entertainment withdraws its plan on a Super Junior China unit.
2. That SM Entertainment officially announces that it will not remove any member from the group or add a new one in the group.
3. That SM Entertainment apologizes to Super Junior fans and people in general for releasing the concept that Super Junior is just a project group.
4. That SM Entertainment apologizes to Super Junior’s fan club E.L.F. for the mental/emotional strain the issues have caused them.

I don’t even know what emotional strain they are talking about since their actions don’t really scream normal. I’m sure if you asked the majority of SUJU fans around the world, they are more stressed out by these E.L.F. members than they are about the sub-groups of SUJU that are forming.

SM Entertainment’s Response:

1. Henry is a must need for Super Junior China to open the closed-market China.
2. Even though Henry is a member of Super Junior China, but being a member of a sub group of Super Junior, that means, he is a member of Super Junior.
3. Super Junior China was decided a long time ago. Henry was accepted in Super Junior China through the 2006 Contest.
4. Super Junior is a project since the beginning, and it will not change.
5. Media is the cause for all misunderstanding. Canceling the project group is false. It has nothing to do with the words of the members.
6. Medias and members words caused all misunderstanding. It’s our (SM) fault that we didn’t clarify it.
7. Kyuhyun was added to Super Junior to boost the strength of vocal, it is not a sign for Super Junior to become a permanent group.
8. There will be more members add in, but there is no specific decision on the time or the actual list of members. Adding in new members will not result in taking out the old ones.
9. Adding new members WILL NOT be continuous. Old members will still be in the group.
10. About the protests and ads, we have no reaction for that. We view it as a free promotion for Super Junior China.
11. Most members are neutral when we asked for the add - in. We didn’t force them.

Even though I am far from being a fan of SM Entertainment, their response cracked me up. A part of me is glad that fans are finally being told that they overreact. I’m tired of seeing celbrities and even ordinary people being scared of crazy fans. What kind of a life is that to live, where you can’t even joke with people or tease fellow colleagues because you’re scared of what their fans will do? It’s sad. So I’m partially glad that SM told these psycho fans to get over themselves. I’m sure it’s not because SM is out on some mission to make South Korea a safer place to live in. They probably don’t want to lose millions of dollars on their new exploitation scheme (through breaching contracts and the dough they will bring in from Chinese fans).

References:
1. Louise@SYP! + sookyung.multiply.com + newsen: E.L.F. demands
2. Louise@SYP! + Jennifer@se7enchoi: SM’s response