BTS’ Image Questioned as V Promotes Coca-Cola Amid Global Boycotts

On July 31, the promotional schedule of BTS’ V, aka Kim Taehyun, was made public as he would be appearing in Coca-Cola Zero’s upcoming campaign in South Korea. However, fans have been getting quite vocal about this, claiming that the endorsement is “tone deaf” and “deeply disappointing,” especially since Coca-Cola has been on the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) list and there is a current genocide going on in Gaza.

The campaign for the latest marketing effort, which is being hashtagged as #BestCokeEver, included not only some slick visuals but a major revelation, with Taehyung being announced as replacing his HYBE labelmates, girl group NewJeans, as the latest celebrity endorser for the world-renowned soda brand.

A staple in the industry, celebrities endorsing major brands is nothing new, but this particular partnership has stirred up plenty of debate, along with calls to boycott Coca-Cola in the wake of BTS’ latest controversy.

Contrary to BTS’ past image

One of the most glaring issues here is how this clashes with the public image that BTS has been projecting for the years they have been in the spotlight. The seven members of the global K-pop phenomenon have had no qualms about speaking up for social justice issues in the past. On multiple occasions, BTS members have raised awareness and publicly addressed discrimination against Asians. BTS even went as far as to do their part to support the Black Lives Matter movement.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has yet to elicit a similar response from BTS. The group’s silence on the issue has been the primary target of fans’ frustration on this matter. Coupled with V’s new association with Coca-Cola, fans are now questioning what the group stands for.

Incidentally, this is not the first time V has gotten the short end of the stick for his endorsement picks. A year ago, Kim Taehyung was the center of minor backlash when he posted a photo of McDonald’s fries on his official SNS without any filters or captions, something fans interpreted as him purposefully choosing to support the global fast-food chain for the sake of his branding.

By the same logic, Taehyung’s move now to endorse Coca-Cola, a brand that has recently been added to the BDS list, is an even bigger slap in the face of fans who have come to expect BTS as socially and politically conscious. In this light, it is perhaps no surprise that a lot of fans are turning up the heat.

The facts on the ground

To its credit, the recent wave of negative sentiment surrounding V’s CokeZero endorsement was not conjured out of thin air. In fact, in 2024, the company was criticized when it released a commercial in Bangladesh, denying any connection between its Bangladeshi branch and Israel. Activists have since debunked the company’s denial of connection, pointing to evidence of Coca-Cola Israel operating in illegal Israeli settlements.

A research and information center called WhoProfits has long documented evidence of corporate participation in the Israeli occupation and has featured Coke Israel in several of its reports on companies doing business in the West Bank. In its latest 2024 report, WhoProfits stated:

The Coca-Cola Israel company is located in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone, established in 1977 on the lands of the town of Beit Hanina, north of Jerusalem, and was confiscated in 1980 by the Israeli occupation authorities. Atarot is considered an illegal settlement, according to Israeli law and international law.

The company operates Tabor Winery, which sources some of its grapes from the West Bank and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Coca-Cola has long been an easy target for BDS activists, particularly those aligned with pro-Palestine movements, with its ties to Israel becoming a common hashtag on social media. However, in V’s case, the personal implication of the conflict and his decision to move forward with the campaign are proving difficult to look past.

The Army takes over social media

Fans, in particular the ARMYs outside of Korea, are quite evidently not too happy with Taehyung’s latest brand association. Fans have taken to social media to make their thoughts known, whether on platforms like Twitter or, in true BTS ARMY fashion, through social media posts by themselves or close friends to draw the attention of mainstream media.

One post in particular quickly became viral, attracting the attention of other fans who then shared it as well, saying:

Dear Taehyung, BTS, and Coca-Cola have been operating on the stolen land of the Palestinians, some of whom are your ARMY. Please don’t work with and promote its products. Please educate yourself. Cancel the endorsement and stand with humanity.

Fans are, of course, not only disappointed by V and his unwillingness to side with humanity but also with BTS as an entity, which has remained silent on the Gaza situation and, at the very least, not been vocally anti-apartheid.

Navigating endorsement politics

On a grander scale, Taehyung’s CokeZero campaign and the general chaos that has stemmed from it have drawn attention to the very issue of public figures and the companies that they are willing to work with. While historically, an artist’s song lyrics or other products would be treated as a stand-alone product, endorsements bring personal branding to the forefront.

In a case like V, whose rise to stardom and global domination has always been closely tied to his identity, any misalignment between that image and his business decisions is sure to be perceived as misaligned or as not standing for what he has preached.

As the dust settles, it will be interesting to see how V and his management will respond, if at all. In the meantime, V’s CokeZero endorsement campaign is gaining a new hashtag, #BoycottCocaCola.