"Nobody Saw That Coming? JYP’s Very Questionable Sana Ad"

 "Nobody Saw That Coming? JYP’s Very Questionable Sana Ad"

by:

Virgilio F. De leon Jr. MD

Twice, Sana has been in the news lately.

Well, to be fair, Sana is almost always in the news. She is, after all, one of the prettiest members of one of K-pop’s most popular girl groups. Getting attention is practically part of the job description.

But this time, the attention has nothing to do with a new song, a performance, or another moment of Sana being effortlessly charming.

Instead, we have a rather questionable Season’s Greetings advertisement from JYP Entertainment.

The picture shows Sana behind a glass window, apparently cleaning it. The problem? The white substance smeared across the glass creates an unfortunate visual association that is difficult to ignore.

There. I said it.

The image has an unmistakably suggestive implication, and it is not exactly the sort of thing one expects to see in an official promotional image featuring a K-pop idol. What might have been intended as an innocent concept has ended up looking considerably more inappropriate than whoever approved it probably anticipated.

Understandably, some fans are upset. Others may not be quite as offended but are still questioning the creative decision. And honestly, can you blame them? Intentional or otherwise, the image is in poor taste, especially when you consider that this is an official advertisement released by the company responsible for managing Sana's public image.

I can almost imagine the conversation in the creative department.

“Do you think anyone will notice that the white substance on the glass looks a little... questionable?”

“Nah. Nobody will interpret it that way.”

“People won't sexualize the image, right?”

“Of course not. It's just a window-cleaning concept!”

And then someone approved the final image, sent it out into the world, and apparently discovered that the internet has a rather vivid imagination.

Or perhaps the problem was not a lack of imagination but a lack of judgment.

Because when you are creating promotional material for a global K-pop audience, you have to consider more than what the image looks like to the people who designed it. You also have to consider how it might be interpreted by everyone else.

That is especially important when the artist involved is someone whose image and reputation the company is supposed to protect.

For shame, JYP Entertainment. Surely somebody could have looked at that picture one last time and asked whether this was really the concept you wanted to put out there.

Then again, this is the same company whose artists have performed songs like TT with choreography involving suggestive interactions with props, including guns and carrots. So perhaps I should not be entirely surprised that a seemingly innocent visual concept could end up inviting a very different interpretation.

Still, there is a difference between a deliberately playful performance and an official promotional image that leaves fans wondering what the creative team was thinking.

Sana herself is not the problem here. Neither is the fact that people noticed the double meaning. The real question is why nobody involved in the approval process seemed to anticipate how the image might be received.

Perhaps it was an innocent mistake. Perhaps the people behind the concept genuinely did not see what everyone else saw.

But if that is the case, I have one very simple suggestion for JYP Entertainment.

Before releasing the next Season's Greetings, maybe let someone outside the creative department look at the pictures first.

Preferably someone with an internet connection.

And perhaps someone who understands that once you put an image out into the world, you no longer get to control what everyone sees in it.