ZEROBASEONE Fans Slam “Xenophobic” Photo Edits By Melon

Zeroses (ZEROBASEONE fans) have slammed music streaming platform Melon for making photo edits they believe show prejudice towards certain group members.

ZEROBASEONE | @ZB1_Official/Twitter

ZEROBASEONE are currently prepping for one of the most anticipated debuts of 2023. Following the finale of Boys Planet, the winning trainees have entertained fans with various content, like magazine features.

| Super Elle

In June, the group’s album name, Youth In The Shade, was finally announced as concept teasers and videos were released.

ZEROBASEONE The 1st Mini Album
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2023.07.10 18:00 (KST)#ZEROBASEONE #ZB1#제로베이스원 #YOUTHINTHESHADE pic.twitter.com/iyFa0DJUoq

— ZEROBASEONE (@ZB1_official) June 6, 2023

Before their July 10th debut, the group were added to the streaming platform Melon, one of Korea’s most popular music store and streaming service. Unfortunately, the platform changed several photos of the group, triggering criticism from fans.

First, on the group’s special Hi-RiSing page, the header photo has been altered from the original, moving the group’s center, Zhang Hao, from his position to the edge of the photo.

Zhang Hao in the center of the original photo. | @ZB1_Official/Twitter Zhang Hao is moved to the bottom left corner in this photo. | Melon

Another photo of the group has been rearranged in another section of their profile, moving the group and placing Zhang Hao and Ricky on the edges. Fans also criticized Melon’s overall editing because Kim Gyuvin was cropped entirely from another photo, though that seems to have been fixed.

Zhang Hao (center) and Ricky (second going from right to left) in the original photo. | @ZB1_Official/Twitter Zhang Hao (now bottom row, second from left) and Ricky (bottom row, last from left to right) | Melon The top photo shows only eight members of ZEROBASEONE. | Melon

Ricky and Zhang Hao are Chinese, leading some fans to believe these edits were made with prejudice in mind.

Hello are you guys XENOPHOBIC?? PLEASE CHANGE THE BANNER TOO!! @melon @wakeone_offcl @ZB1_official

And NEVER REPEAT THIS AGAIN PLEASE!!
Yall have issues I sincerely hope that you guys can’t sleep at night #ZHANGHAOISCENTER https://t.co/zz1wUpBkqV

— mochihao (@emoshien) July 5, 2023

you have GOT to be joking… going out of your way to edit the photo so that the center of the group isn’t in the center to the point where you even CROPPED AN ENTIRE MEMBER out of a picture? this is literally ridiculous pic.twitter.com/bJS9twJ3Mz

— tofu ♡ 章昊 (@tofuzhanghao) July 5, 2023

and is it a coincidence that somehow all the foreign members have been pushed to the side? https://t.co/aNERR1hsNg

— tofu ♡ 章昊 (@tofuzhanghao) July 5, 2023

Considering ZEROBASEONE are the most followed 2023 Rookie Group on Melon, it’s no surprise these changes were noticed. Fans have organized efforts to contact WAKEONE and inform them of the changes that need to be made.

ZEROSES! COPY AND QRT THE TWEET USING THIS TEMPLATE

We demand @melon to remove this promotional poster of #ZEROBASEONE because the member KIM GYUVIN is being cut out! We demand you to fix and address this error as soon as possible!

WHERE IS GYUVIN#ZEROBASEONEIS9 https://t.co/UshTdjktdu

— KIM GYUVIN GLOBAL (@GYUVINGLOBAL) July 5, 2023

We have recently become aware that @melon deliberately edited group photos of @ZB1_official members in promotional posters, removing Zhang Hao from the center position. In response, we are currently preparing an email template to address the situation.

For now, we are directing… pic.twitter.com/CVK1xaqLB4

— ZHANG HAO GLOBAL (@ZHANGHAOGLOBAL) July 5, 2023