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BLACKPINK's upcoming merchandise is BLACKPINK IN YOUR KOREAN, a Korean-language study merchandise created in collaboration with HYBE Edu. The teaser for the merch was released on February 28. However, the reaction was mixed as some BLINKs expressed extreme disappointment and surprise over the same.
A major reason for their dismay was the lack of new music announcements. Since last year, BLINKs have been extremely vocal about demanding a group comeback from the international girl group. However, they were greeted with news of either a solo collaboration or merchandise.
With each collaboration news or merchandise release, the wrath of BLINKs demanding new music fills social media sites.
YG Entertainment and HYBE EDU collaboration for "BLACKPINK IN YOUR KOREAN" receives mixed responses
HYBE EDU, an ed-tech company under HYBE, has expanded its Learn Korean series with YG Entertainment’s How You Like That girl group. Titled BLACKPINK IN YOUR KOREAN, a wordplay on the group’s signature tagline of “BLACKPINK in your area,” the kit includes two textbooks, a role-play kit, review pocketbooks, Korean-language keyboard stickers, and MotiPen, a speaking pen that focuses on intonations.
The package will help curious fans learn Korean with examples, quizzes, and more from their favorite K-pop group. It has a whole scenario created with BLINKY, a fan, spending an entire day with the four-member group. It contains grammar, vocabulary, phrases, and expressions lessons too.
While some fans liked the launch with its cute design, others weren’t short of criticizing the move. They expressed concerns over having another merchandise campaign instead of the group's music release.
The last group release was in 2020, and since then, YG Entertainment has focused on the members’ solo activities and collaborations.
Another concern arose over the offbeat, rarely seen collaboration between the two of the biggest K-pop agencies - HYBE and YG Entertainment. Since HYBE (formerly Big Hit Entertainment) joined the ‘Big 4’ of the K-pop industry, it has been soaring higher with each passing year.
The company, home to BTS, TXT, and ENHYPEN, outsold all three agencies combined in the fourth quarter of 2021.
YG Entertainment went into strategic partnership with the behemoth HYBE in January last year. This included YG artists joining Weverse, a fan-artist platform created by the latter. The platform started only with BTS and gradually added other HYBE artists. It is now home to more than 45 artists.
The collaboration continued to receive mixed responses as fans wondered what the two companies merging for merchandise could mean for the future of K-pop.
Meanwhile, BLACKPINK IN YOUR KOREAN is the latest and fourth installment of HYBE EDU's Learn Korean series. The segment started with Learn! Korean with BTS, and Learn! Korean with TinyTAN, both meant for beginner learning. The company recently released Talk! with BTS, which is aimed at the intermediary level of the Korean language.
The BLACKPINK IN YOUR KOREAN will be available for pre-order starting March 7 on Weverse Shop and the South Korean e-commerce website, KTOWN4U.
