NCT Fans Accuse SM Entertainment Of Being “Greedy” Due To Design Choice Of New Lightstick

Pictures of NCT‘s new light stick recently emerged online. The official announcement came on April 22, confirming suspicions that it now has a smooth boxy design with an embossed logo of each sub-unit on one side of the panels.

NCT | SM Entertainment

There were lightsticks for NCT 127...

…NCT DREAM…

…WayV…

.

…and NCT Wish.

They now have a more uniform look to unify the entire group. The original light stick design used to be the same for NCT 127 and NCT DREAM while WayV’s was in the shape of a V. The letter is now embossed on the panels itself.

NCT 127 and NCT DREAM’s original lightstick (Left), WayV’s original lightstick (Center), and WayV’s new light stick (Right) | SM Entertainment

Another new piece of information that became public was that four versions of the lightstick were made available. This dashed hopes that the new lightstick would feature one base and separately available panels of each group’s logo that could be switched around.

Fans were shocked when they found out that the panels were not interchangeable. This meant that a fan of multiple units would have to buy several light sticks just to be able to support their favorites.

I thought they'd be interchangeable.
I'm NOT buying 4 new lightsticks. https://t.co/osETmSSlrq pic.twitter.com/VnZOHlv0BH

— 『ⁿᶜᵗ～æ』 (@neocoffeetime) April 22, 2024

They said it was a huge missed opportunity that could have made the design more usable. A fan suggested that one side of the panel could have an emblem representing all four sub-units while another could be the interchangeable logo of the sub-units.

you know what they could've done if they were smart? make the sides interchangeable and sell them separately so you could build one with all four subunits emblem on the sides or just one subunit on four sides depending which group you're a unit stan of. https://t.co/dU2rSMvJ9H

— ilsa (@mysonezen) April 22, 2024

They called SM Entertainment “greedy” for this particular design choice as they were forcing fans of multiple units to buy more. Each one costs ₩45,000 KRW (about $32.70 USD), so a multi-fan would spend ₩180,000 KRW (about $131 USD) for all four.

btw it's 4 separate lighsticks. the slides are not interchangable and will only open for the purpose to put stuff inside…and it's more expensive! this is greedy of capitaliSM https://t.co/gb2Nd3dRsh

— ━ (@wayviful) April 22, 2024

Not only was it a waste of money, but it was a waste of plastic as well. It was harmful for the environment for fans to purchase up to four lightsticks for one group.

they could've just designed 4 panels corresponding to each unit but still based on the OLD neobong's measurements so we can insert it or wtvr. just wasting plastic and money fr. https://t.co/XYhf7aJyyo

— elle | ia (@cleonsyks) April 22, 2024

you should be sued for generating more plastic waste… this could've been one base with 4 different exchangeable designs but oh well https://t.co/35cOGPa3Zj

— ynhen ᵀᴬᴾ ᴮʸ ᵀʸ ᴼᵁᵀ ᴺᴼᵂ (@__misft) April 22, 2024

What do you think of this issue?

| SM Entertainment