Mnet Street Man Fighter “Be the SMF,” which aired on July 5, introduced the participating crew ahead of the official premiere: 1Million, MBITIOUS, JustJerk, YGX, PRIME KINGZ, WDBZ, EO-DDAE, and BIIB. However, one of the dance crews’ name immediately infuriated Melody (BTOB fans) as the name and logo overlap with the Kpop group and demanded Mnet to apologize to BTOB.
What Happened on Street Man Fighter – Mnet Should Apologize to BTOB
The dance crew “Bank2Brothers” was introduced and promoted with the abbreviation “BIIB,” which has the same writing as BTOB in Korean (비투비).
In addition, the BIIB logo in Street Man Fighter looks similar to the BTOB logo used at the beginning of their career as a Kpop group. Melody even put both logos together to compare their similarity.
Not only that, the slogan of the group is “Born to Be Hip,” which reminds BTOB’s official slogan, “Born to Beat.”
Frankly said, the dance crew on Street Man Fighter has violated the rights and clearly Mnet created trademark infringement. In fact, “BTOB,” “Born to Beat,” and “BIIB” have all been registered for trademark rights in 2015 by Cube Entertainment.
Cube Entertainment Protects BTOB
Due to the Mnet trademark infringement issue, BTOB’s agency Cube Entertainment has seriously taken action. The agency posted an official statement ensuring Melody that they had notified Mnet.
Cube Entertainment also requested Mnet to use the dance crew’s full name, “Bank2Brothers,” instead of the abbreviation. Besides, the agency also demanded Mnet change the logo and slogan of the dance crew.
“Hello. This is CUBE Entertainment.
We have recognized that a crew part of Mnet’s show “Street Man Fighter” has the same name and similar logo and slogan as our artist.
Therefore, we have informed Mnet that this could lead to a violation of rights since BTOB’s logo and name have been trademarked, and hence strongly requested an apology addressing this situation.
We also requested the use of the full name of the crew and a change of logo and slogan.
The response we received from Mnet’s staff is that they will only use the full name and change the logo and slogan. And this was notified on the official account of “Street Man Fighter.”
We will continue to devote our best efforts to protecting the rights of our artists.
Thank you.”
Mnet Official Statement over the Confusion
As BTOB fans demand Mnet apologize to BTOB and Cube Entertainment, they have no choice but to reply. Mnet released a statement:
“This is Mnet’s Production Team.
About the name of the Bank2Brothers crew participating in Street Man Fighter, BIIB is an abbreviation that the Bank2Brothers crew has been using. However, we acknowledged that it had created confusion, we decided to use the full name of the crew to reduce the confusion and discrimination in the future.
In order to increase the originality of the logo and slogan, we will quickly change it and introduce the new version.
Please pay a lot of attention to “Be The SMF,” which will air every Tuesday in August.”
Why do BTOB Fans Still Ask for Mnet Apology?
Although Mnet has responded to the situation, it seems far from Melody’s expectations. The statement released by CUBE Entertainment clearly stated that they “strongly requested an apology.”
However, Mnet didn’t seem to apologize to BTOB nor Cube Entertainment for the trademark infringement issue.
This infuriates BTOB fans more as Mnet neglected the demand for a proper apology and makes them trend #MnetApologizetoBTOB and give some examples of how to apologize appropriately.
Melody, i see our mass tweet is disturbing their agenda, yes they clarify but they dont apologize Let us continue our agenda untill we get that proper apologize
— ㅁㄹㅂㅅ (@alephant6) July 8, 2022
Sorry not sorry @MnetKR you have cross the line so many times we have had enough@OFFICIALBTOB #MnetApologizeToBTOB
How to say "I'm sorry" in Korean (since this will be a formal apology, I have provided you, @MnetKR, with the 존댓말 form)
— mellowmelo | Huta BOOM? | 27.06.2022 (@mellowbtobfan) July 8, 2022
1. 죄송합니다 OR
2. 미안합니다
Now you can begin to write that statement to @OFFICIALBTOB for infringing on their trademark#MNETApologizeToBTOB
Hi, @MnetKR, I think your publicity team dropped this so I picked it up for you ?#MNETApologizeToBTOB@MnetKR pic.twitter.com/kJWAtZGyaF
— Marion Shin ⛅ | vv tired handle with care (@KyeoptaPenJae) July 8, 2022
Admitting your mistakes are good, changing that mistakes are also good.. thank you for that.. but isn't it APOLOGIES comes first before anything else? That's more better and appropriate tho. #MNETApologizeToBTOB@MnetKR https://t.co/rzRvhhOkk8
— BTOB Supports ? (@BTOBSupports) July 8, 2022
What do you think about what happened even before the Street Man Fighter begins? Do you think Mnet should apologize to BTOB? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below and follow Kpoppost Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
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is mnet not a big entertainment company? how do they do business and not realize the names will cause controversy, terrible business etiquette and their non-apology apology is so pathetic, they're basically pointing fingers back to BTOB, claiming that the dance group used the name first as if BTOB hasn't been publicly promoting their name for the last 11 years. BTOB and their fans deserves better, shame on mnet, how does this company even stay afloat
Mnet still didn't apologise but only make a statement about the trade mark issue. They should admit that they mess up the process. Don't be bullying ance had BTOB, next will have another again and again... Mnet thought they are Hugh company that makes idols must fulfill what they asked. If not, MNET will disband those idols teams who not follow their instructions. So scary... So mnet must send a new statement for the apologies to CUBE and BTOB.
Finally, a good article on this issue. Msnake, you really need to do a proper apology!
It's about time Mnet acknowledges the unfair treatment BTOB received during Street Man Fighter! Fans have been rallying for an apology, and it's crucial for the integrity of the show and respect for the artists. BTOB deserves better!
It's about time Mnet acknowledged the unfair treatment BTOB received during Street Man Fighter! Fans deserve better than this. Their contributions to K-pop shouldn't be overlooked. Mnet, please do the right thing and apologize!