BTS SUGA's "D-DAY The Originals" album pack containing 28 photocards gains attention amidst criticism of street dumps

On May 20, 2024, BTS star Min Yoongi, referred to by his stage name SUGA, made headlines for his album packaging. The news broke that the globally popular rapper-songwriter's debut solo album package August D Tour D-DAY: THE ORIGINAL will be available on DVD, leaving his fans ecstatic. Furthermore, a list of items included in the special release was posted as part of the announcement, and it included everything from posters, booklets, postcards, and, photocards.

Immediately, the "28 PHOTOCARDS" hashtag started trending worldwide on X since the package included 28 photocards of SUGA. This news held significance since on April 30, 2024, news of SEVENTEEN's new album 17 IS RIGHT HERE album copies being thrown out on the streets of Japan hit the internet chatter. Fans bought the albums in bulk to collect photocards of their idols and discarded the albums later.

Later, on May 18, 2024, news of BTS' Jungkook's debut solo album GOLDEN albums being thrown out for the same reason made headlines globally. Koreaboo reported that fans expressed their dismay and indignation at seeing several copies of Jungkook's solo album being thrown beside public toilets and other seemingly odd areas.

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BTS' SUGA trended worldwide and lauded for creating merch packages to minimise album wastage

Notably, the majority of the thrown-away albums by artists such as Jungkook, SEVENTEEN, and NCT, no longer have their plastic covers on. Hence, fans speculated that it is likely that the photocards have already been removed, which is why they were first bought in such large quantities.

Meanwhile, SUGA's August D Tour D-DAY: THE ORIGINAL new package included 28 photocards from each concert on his solo world tour in 2023. As per standard K-pop industry rules, most albums and releases focus on "random Photocard" ads, where fans receive a specific amount of photocards from the batch made.

BTS fans—who are endearingly known as ARMY—were unable to contain their happiness when the images were released on May 20, 2024. ARMY lauded the Haegeum rapper-songwriter for going against the grain and including all the pictures from his entire world tour in one package.

This further meant that fans wouldn't have to purchase albums in bulk which would further minimize album wastage across the globe.

Apart from being more ecologically friendly, this would also save the fanbase a great deal of money. Fans cherished the number of photo cards as well as the fact that Suga chose to create an afterthought following everything.

Meanwhile, Koreaboo reported in the last six years, K-pop album disposal has reportedly climbed by a staggering 14 times including the recent times when albums were thrown out on streets and public toilets in bulk.

Furthermore, HYBE Corporation, JYP Entertainment, and Kakao Entertainment are the top three companies on the list for producing the highest environmental wastage based on this.

The subject of bulk purchasing is currently one of the most hotly debated topics in K-pop. Large stacks of abandoned albums have been seen by online users on streets and in trash cans.

Specifically, the problem has been accelerated in the last two months since so many businesses are producing enormous quantities of photocards of their idols and packaging them in different album variations.

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In other news, BTS' SUGA is currently serving in the South Korean military as a public service employee. He enlisted on September 22, 2023, and will return in June 2025, after completing 21 months of mandatory service.