K-Pop Fans React Poorly To SM Entertainment Including A “Special Gift” With Lightstick Purchases

When it comes to official K-Pop merchandise, lightsticks are some of the more expensive but highly coveted pieces of merch that a fan can buy. They can range anywhere from $30-$150 USD, and more popular groups oftentimes come out with updated versions every so often as well. So for fans who don’t have an excess amount of disposable income, it can be a challenge to spend the money on one of these pieces, no matter how desirable they are.

K-Pop lightstick collection | u/allhailthemadqueen/Reddit

Recently, SM Entertainment announced that they would be giving photocards out along with lightstick purchases, making the already coveted merchandise even more so. But there’s a catch — the photocards aren’t free (4,000 won or ~$3 USD each), and each lightstick comes with just one out of however many members the group has at random.

Artists offering the photocard include soloist BoA, with just one version…

TVXQ, with two potential photocards available…

Super Junior, who currently have nine active membes…

Girls’ Generation, who have four members remaining at SM Entertainment…

SHINee, with three photocards (not including Onew, who is currently on hiatus)…

EXO, who offer one of eight random member photocards…

Red Velvet, with five members…

NCT, with a whopping 20 photocards to get a random pull from…

Aespa, with a set of four to draw from…

And WayV, where there are six possible photocards to get.

K-Pop fans haven’t been reacting positively to this news, and it’s not all that surprising. The excessive use of photocards to try to encourage fans to buy more has been getting out of hand in recent years, leading to a lot of waste and inflated sales numbers from albums being bought just for the cards. So their inclusion with SM Entertainment’s artists’ lightsticks isn’t being received well.

Unfortunately, as long as fans buy into this kind of marketing, it’s unlikely to stop anytime soon.