SBS’s New Variety Program “Black Sheep” Under Fire For Disparaging Low-Income Families And Single Parent Homes

SBS‘s new variety program Black Sheep Game is mired in controversy for allegedly disparaging lower-income families and those who are underprivileged.

Rules of the game | Black Sheep Game/SBS

1. In a 5×5 table write what you think of when hearing dirt spoon.
2. After filling out the table, contestants will take turns reading one of their entries.
3. If two lines intersect, yell ‘Bingo’! The first person to yell bingo wins the game

—SBS’s Black Sheep Game

On the most recent episode, contestants played “Dirt Spoon Bingo.” According to the show, dirt spoon alludes to those born in poorer families, opposite to those born with a gold, silver, or bronze spoon.

Contestants of Black Sheep Game | Black Sheep Game/SBS

During the game, the contestants wrote conditions they felt constituted someone being born with a dirt spoon.

Contestants of Black Sheep Game | Black Sheep Game/SBS

The most common conditions of being raised in a low-income family, according to the show, were “Inheriting clothes from older siblings,” “You have a brown rubber tube,” “You don’t have your own room,” and “You have student loans.”

Contestants of Black Sheep Game | Black Sheep Game/SBS

The contestants wrote various representations of a poor family, including, “Your house floods,” “You are very skinny,” “You are from a single-parent home,” “Your house is moldy,” “You can’t make in-game purchases,” “You rent your house,” “You wear the same clothes,” “You get in trouble at school,” “You have been an outcast,” “You live outside of school,” among others.

A contestant’s Bingo table | Black Sheep Game/SBS

Immediately after the show, netizens expressed their uproar regarding the episode’s insensitivity towards those from low-income families. Netizens in online communities wrote, “Are they crazy?” “Experienced being an outcast, living outside Seoul. What is this?” “They really broadcasted something like this?” “Did you think this will be fun to watch?” and “This was really broadcasted?”

SBS’s Black Sheep Game is a survival game where contestants try to find those who have lived different lives from them and “eliminate” them in the game (The game’s verbiage is kill).

Poster for Black Sheep Game | SBS

There has been no word yet from SBS regarding the controversy.