The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission has banned K-pop supergroup Blackpink’s television ad. The members of the group were wearing miniskirts in the ad, which led to the ban.
11 local TV stations have been ordered to stop the commercial from airing late Tuesday, December 11. This prompted a furious backlash from fans.
The ad features four members of the top-selling Korean girl band singing and dancing to promote Shopee, an Indonesian online retailer.
A petition asking the commission to cancel the ad gained 100,000 signatures, which led to the commission ordering the ban. This in turn sparked a campaign from fans calling for the expulsion of the woman who launched the original petition.
Indonesia’s broadcasting watchdog said the ad breaks the country’s moral norms, especially as the world’s biggest Muslim majority country.
“Companies need to be careful when they’re making a commercial that they don’t associate their product with something Indonesians see as negative,” commission head Hardly Stefano said in a statement Tuesday.
Shopee has stated that the ad had been approved by another government agency prior to its airing – but said that the commission’s remarks are “very valuable input.”
The decision to ban the ad was widely panned by Blackpink fans in Indonesia.
Blackpink has quickly become a household name in Korea and among K-pop fans overseas with their signature hip hop-infused music, impeccably choreographed dance routines and edgy fashion styles.
They also stand out in a K-pop industry largely dominated by boy bands.
Source: Channel News Asia