ARMY vs. EXO-L Fandom Wars
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From 2014 to 2020, BTS ARMY and EXO EXO-L were engaged in multiple fan wars over real life controversies and online debates.
Common Fan War Topics
- Vocals
- Visuals
- Music Chart Positions
- Awards
School Uniform Plagiarism Accusations
In 2014, BTS were accused of copying EXO's school uniform outfits from their Growl comeback.
On the 11th February 2014, BTS held their 2nd mini album "Skool Luv Affair"’s showcase and weren’t afraid of getting detention for promoting their new songs while wearing uniforms!Last year, EXO wore uniforms for their track "GROWL" and had become a hot item. Reporters questioned BTS if they were copying EXO’s concept. One of the rappers in BTS, SUGA, explained, “Our debut concept is made to be the ‘School Concept’ for our first 3 albums for promotion. We did not expect EXO to also go with this concept. On the other hand, we are sorry but also feel very honored to be compared to EXO.“
“EXO-sunbaenims have their own style. We too, have our own styles. But if we continue to work extra hard to show off our speciality, one day we might turn into a trend like EXO. We are very honored to be compared to EXO. Thank you everyone!”Translated by Antonia @bangtanscouts[1]
May Terror 2016
Various Plagiarism Accusations
BTS were accused of copying the hair colors of K-pop group BIG BANG.
BTS' company was accused of copying SHINee's promotion album art.
BTS were accused of copying EXO maze concept in their Young Forever music video.
BTS were accused of copying EXO's poses in multiple pictures.
#PlagiarismBoys Controversy
In 2016, #PlagiarismBoys trended worldwide on Twitter on May 5, 2015 by antis. This was the day BTS won their first music show award, which is an award that is determined using fan votes, physical album sales, digital album sales, and expert opinion. BTS' Twitter searches were also constantly flooded with "BTS plagarism" and "BTS saejaegi."
Response from BTS
BTS addressed the plagiarism accusations in their Wings Tour Final: Opening VCR.
Sajaegi Controversy
In 2016, BTS' company was accused of undergoing sajaegi to artificially inflate the physical sales of their Most Beautiful Moment in Life: Young Forever album.
Response from BTS
Min Yoongi tweeted out "after I started making music I made a promise that I won't joke around music and I've never done it. It's hard but believe me and please watch me, I'll make good music for you if you allow me to"[2]
Break Wings Project
This project happened as an extension of the hate BTS received during the plagiarism and sajaegi controversies.
In 2016 before the release of BTS's Wings album, antis including GOT7 ahgases and EXO-Ls planned a project—called a sabotage by ARMYs—to push for its failure on October 10 (10.10). The antis claimed that BTS's comeback, where a group releases new music, will affect their group's music chart positions.[3] The project consisted of streaming, viewing a video multiple times to inflate its views, and voting for BTS's competitors on music programs to make BTS fail and lose in all ways possible.[4] Antis planned and organized for the event through a list with advice and pointers of what to do.
The list was supposed to not be resent to anyone and only sent privately, but ARMYs found out about their plan and planned ways to counter the hate.
ARMYs trended hashtags to show their love for BTS to fight against the negative hashtag from antis. The hashtags were:
- WINGSgonnaFlyHigh
- SaveWINGS
- BoysMeetDaesang
The fandoms with antis participating in this project were worried that BTS would win their first daesang or major award with this new album. Many negative and threatening posts and comments were made during this time by anits due to their frustrations with BTS' upcoming success.
Although antis were very loud, many other fandoms openly apologized for their own fandom's behavior with the project and sometimes their own behavior.
Time Square Billboards
In 2017, EXO fans spent what was estimated to be a seven figure sum on a series of billboards in Time Square to celebrate the group's fifth anniversary. Months later, ARMY members celebrated the group's fourth anniversary in the same way. This seemingly turned into a contest, with both sides attempting to out-spend each other.