“Aren’t we all fans?”: BLACKPINK fans criticize agency for making them shell out money for 7th anniversary celebration, mixed reactions pour in

On July 21, YG Entertainment officially kicked off BLACKPINK’s seventh anniversary celebrations by notifying fans about a Weverse emblem and digital polaroids. The quintet will mark seven years in the industry on August 8. The announcement ignited both positive and negative reactions with fans’ thoughts and emotions running all over the place.

Mostly, fans across the world expressed their discomfort with the way they were supposed to get the emblem on Weverse. As per the agency’s notice, the digital emblem and digital polaroids will only be given to fans who hold a BLINK Weverse membership, which is a paid annual program. BLINKs did not hide their disappointment by calling out the agency for allegedly milking them by making them pay for another service.

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BLACKPINK’s seventh anniversary celebration content receives mixed responses from fans

With BLACKPINK’s exclusive contracts up for renewal and several heated discourses on their disbandment continuing online, YG Entertainment treated fans to the official seventh anniversary celebrations of the Pink Venom singers. The news ignited the fandom’s response into believing that the group was here to stay, at least for the next few years. However, it also made many disgruntled over the lack of content.

On July 21, YG Entertainment shared a notice announcing the celebration of the quartet’s seventh anniversary with a Weverse Emblem event. It comes with a Polaroid Gift from the members as well. The emblem is similar to a digital stamp that fans can show off through their Weverse accounts. The polaroids gifted to them are also digital photos.

The event participation conditions are that the emblem and polaroids are only available for BLACKPINK Weverse Membership (BLINK Membership) holders. For fans who want the aforementioned things, they will have to buy the membership through the Weverse Shop. For the Global market, it costs 23 USD for 365 days.

This information led to much uproar in the fandom. Fans couldn’t help but allege that the company was making them shell out money even for anniversary celebrations. They were of the opinion that they should be given anniversary content for free. Some fans mentioned how much of the content that BLACKPINK had been posting on Weverse in recent months was restricted to Membership holders.

On the other hand, some fans rejoiced. They believed that another year of membership renewal might suggest that the Pink Venom singers were not disbanding. Most of the reactions to the announcement were first panic and then relief.

While a few did mention that the membership renewal may not directly relate to BLACKPINK’s group activities, the fandom’s desire to stay optimistic about the quartet’s future together was clearly reflected.

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Meanwhile, Munhwa Ilbo, a South Korean outlet, reported on July 12 that there was a high chance of Lisa not renewing her contract with YG Entertainment. It claimed that the MONEY rapper would be leaving the agency following the contract expiration.

It also reported that an anonymous Chinese outlet told them that they wanted Lisa to feature on a particular show, but the agency shared that it would be difficult to schedule her activities after August as her contract was uncertain.

On the same day, YG Entertainment released a crisp statement saying that the contract renewal was still under discussion. As per Munhwa Ilbo, discussions with the remaining three BLACKPINK members went by smoothly.

With weeks to go until the anniversary, fans can hope for better content to be released.