BTS use talent and fame as a platform for advocacy
Understanding the discursive power of celebrities
In 2013, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) launched the #ENDviolence campaign with the goal of making the world a safer place for young people. UNICEF sought a partner that could pursue and sympathize with their messages through a campaign, philosophy and leadership, based on a proper scale, organization and experience. And when Bangtan Soneyondan (BTS) expressed their wish to participate in the campaign, the Korean Committee for UNICEF welcomed them. Due to BTS’ LOVE MYSELF campaign, not only were they able to raise over US$2,000,000, but their fans, also known as ARMY, were inspired to initiate projects around the world that served the same purpose as the campaign, and more. This article discusses the importance of celebrity advocates who are able to give light to issues by inspiring conviction in their fan base and the general public more broadly.
Celebrities being involved in the works of international organizations and charities is not new. In the 1950s, UNICEF had partnered with celebrities such as Danny Kaye, Audrey Hepburn, and Mia Farrow to be Goodwill Ambassadors (Wheeler 2011 cited in Richey and Budabin 2016). More celebrities participated when Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations, had the belief that celebrities have the capacity to “influence international public opinion to support the UN’s goals…” (Wheeler 2011 p 14). The primary role of using celebrities is to increase recognition of certain issues through fundraising and awareness campaigns (Huijser and Tay 2011).
With a celebrity status, personalities have a “certain discursive power within society and the celebrity is a voice above others, a voice that is channelled into the media system as being legitimately significant” (Marshall 1997 cited in Huijser and Tay 2011 p 108). Therefore, celebrities have wide access to potential resources such as media attention, global funding, and inspiring more participants and supporters (Huijser and Tay 2011; Richey and Budabin 2016; Atkinson and DeWitt 2019). With this, celebrity advocates are not only vocal, but they also have massive influence (Cooper 2007). This is due to their global prominence which they can utilize to be louder advocates for their causes (Richey and Budabin 2016).
Finding the right partner for a campaign is critical because as critics of celebrity advocates have expressed, “representatives should be judged in terms of the quality of their policy proposals, the ideological coherence of their manifesto, the sophistication of their political skills or the legitimacy of their selection procedures” (Street 2004 in Huijser and Tay 2011 p 110). These criteria are far more important than their fame and ability to look good in documentations. Especially so when the cause is of such global significance as ending violence with UNICEF.
It is reported BTS proposed to the Korean Committee of UNICEF that they would raise funds and donate three percent of their profits from the Love Yourself album series sales, and that they planned to donate 100% of LOVE MYSELF campaign merchandise sales to social programs. They represented themselves as the ideal candidates for the campaign, and UNICEF accepted.
“Our LOVE MYSELF campaign is all about encouraging every young person to find the love from within themselves and spreading that love to others,” said BTS. “We want everyone to take part in ending violence by sharing love and kindness.”
BTS have also partnered with UNICEF USA and UNICEF UK. Jung Kook, the youngest member, shared, “We’re really glad and grateful to see the LOVE MYSELF campaign grow globally and especially how our fans have shown so much love and support. We hope that by continuing to spread the message of the LOVE MYSELF campaign in the UK, we’ll be able to help heal the pain of children and young people exposed to violence and help them recover love and confidence in themselves.” (Big Hit Entertainment, nd)
Aside from the resources that BTS have to offer, their music has ideological coherence and can sympathize with the message of the campaign. What made BTS appealing to their fans is music with meaning. They share stories about “bullying, depression, struggles of youth, pursuit of happiness, and forsaking society’s ideals and temptation” which the fans can relate to (Silverstein 2016 p 3). This demonstrates how they are able to disseminate messages of concern, love, hope, and inspiration to their fans (Mitchell 2016).
The CHALLENGE that they recognized:
Children and teens have the right to pursue their lives
in safety and happiness and to grow with love and care.
At this very moment, however, some of them are falling victim
to various levels of violence.
Many of them are unable to enjoy their fair share of chances
to dream of a healthy future.
(Big Hit Entertainment, nd)
It has been recorded that there are approximately 150 million students, most of them aged 13 to 15, who have experienced peer-to-peer violence in their schools (Wylie 2019).
The SOLUTION that they believed in:
Love myself, share love— this is the true meaning of love
and what we want to share with others and promote in the broader world.
We want to lend a helping hand to children and teens exposed to violence.
With our love and care, this world can be turned into
a better place where people can dream of tomorrow.
(Big Hit Entertainment, nd)
The LOVE MYSELF campaign was launched on November 1, 2017. BTS and Big Hit Entertainment have donated KRW500M (approximately USD410,000 as of May 6, 2020 rates). On December 1, 2017, the first set of LOVE MYSELF merchandise was released, and it sold out. A few months later, on April 2018, the first ever UNICEF booths for the LOVE MYSELF campaign were set-up at Yokohama Arena and Osaka-jo Hall. These were the venues that were part of BTS’ world tour. There were over 50,000 fans that visited the booth and donations totalled to JPY2.9M (approximately USD27,000 as of May 6, 2020 rates). Other tour stops with UNICEF booths were Seoul, Busan, Newark, New York, London, Hong Kong, and Bangkok.
On September 24, 2018, BTS spoke at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly. The group talked about how one should love one’s self first before giving positive love to others. They also mentioned how loving yourself is important in order to speak for yourself. This speech was part of the launch of Generation Unlimited (GenU) initiative. GenU is a UNICEF program that acknowledges the economic, social, and cultural challenges that young people face. Therefore, their commitment is to increase opportunities and investments for young people, aged 10 to 24, around the world in order to provide training and age-appropriate employment by 2030 (UNICEF, nd).
On July 30, 2019, celebrating International Day of Friendship, BTS released a video calling on young people to be kind.
The ACTION that they called for:
‘LOVE MYSELF’ and #ENDviolence
We ask for your interest and participation in the LOVE MYSELF campaign,
jointly staged by BTS and UNICEF.
(Big Hit Entertainment, nd)
By November 2019, almost two years since the start of BTS’ campaign, donations for the LOVE MYSELF campaign reached KRW2.6B (approximately USD2.13M as of May 6, 2020 rates). The money will be used to protect and support young people affected by violence (domestic, school, sexual) in order to empower them and foster local community engagement. In addition, it is noteworthy to talk about ARMY Projects that were launched as answers to the call of BTS’ LOVE MYSELF campaign. These projects have been successful due to social media networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. These sites have served as platforms to mobilize celebrities’ fans for social causes; since it is “through the platform of social media that a fan culture, in all its inter-connected networks and communities, can quite rapidly be drawn together, working to achieve a shared goal” (Bennett 2012 cite in Mitchell 2016 p 292).
To mention, One In An ARMY is a collective for global fundraising campaigns by “researching and partnering with non-profit organizations and establishing a way for ARMY all around the world to gift micro-donations over one month periods.” One In An ARMY consists of volunteers around the world who believe that, through collaborations, even small contributions will make a great impact. On March 9 2018, Twitter user @rwapmon asked if anyone would be interested in working on a project for the #ENDviolence LOVE MYSELF campaign or a Syrian relief project. The first campaign that they ran in April 2018 contributed funds to Medical Teams International, an organization that mobilizes medical staff and volunteers to places in crises. The collective has also organized charity projects around the world mentioning that BTS teach people to be kind to one another. In these charity projects, the collective contributes in BTS’ name. Aside from these, they also have projects for crises relief and acts of kindness activities. Their current campaign is to support COVID-19 relief efforts.
Apart from One In An ARMY, BTS South Africa partnered with Justice Desk, a human rights organisation, for their Mbokodo Club campaign which empowers young women in Nyanga through self-defence classes and self-esteem workshops. BTS Army South Africa has donated eight indigenous forest trees to celebrate each member’s birthday. BTS Peru has also raised awareness of bullying. Bangtan India donates to UNICEF Korea every year in BTS’ name to celebrate the anniversary of BTS’ debut. Early this year, Australia experienced devastating bushfires. Australia BTS has made efforts to collect donations for bushfire relief and for koala adoptions.
BTS go beyond simply being rich and famous. They continue to inspire people through their music, art, talents, and good deeds. The case of BTS’ LOVE MYSELF campaign influencing ARMY around the world to do good and spread kindness is a prime example of Kofi Annan’s belief that celebrities can help raise funds and increase media attention, therefore, drawing attention to development causes. Through LOVE MYSELF, UNICEF’s #ENDviolence campaign is better known and better understood with a wider reach. Hence, celebrities, with their worldwide fame and extensive fan bases, have the ability to raise social awareness and responsibility.
References
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