By K-pop giant HYBE is facing massive backlash in India after releasing an advertisement for the upcoming Weverse Festival in India that many fans say mocks Indian food, culture, and lifestyle. The ad film, meant to hype the milestone event — which will bring multiple K-pop acts to India for the very first time — instead triggered accusations of cultural insensitivity and racism.
Concept illustration. (Credits: Our Insane Blogs)
The advertisement portrays the daily life of a young Indian K-pop fan who would rather enjoy a bowl of ramen than a routine meal of rice and lentils (dal chawal), and who tunes into new K-pop releases instead of watching Indian movies. For Indian fans, that framing felt like a “slap in the face” — a mockery of their comfort food and their film industry, wrapped in negative stereotypes about Indian K-pop fans.
Why Fans Are Furious
Fan reactions poured in fast. One widely shared post fumed: “What do you mean dal chawal is boring and ramen is fun? You are planning to hold a massive festival in India, and the very first thing you do is disrespect our comfort food and mock our industry?” Another called the ad “corny and honestly racist,” arguing that HYBE India’s marketing so far has framed Korean food and culture as supposedly cooler than Indian.
The deeper criticism: HYBE is asking Indian fans to spend real money on a major festival while positioning their own culture as inferior in the pitch itself. Fans also called out the company for failing its due diligence on Indian cultures before launching a market-entry campaign.
A Marketing Disaster Before the Big Debut
The controversy lands at the worst possible time for HYBE’s India push. Weverse Con India is supposed to be a landmark moment — the first time multiple K-pop acts perform together in the country. Instead of building excitement, the rollout has sparked boycott-adjacent anger and turned a celebration into a damage-control moment.
HYBE has not publicly addressed the backlash at the time of writing. Whether the company pulls the ad, apologizes, or quietly moves on, the episode is already a case study in how not to market to a new country: never insult the audience you’re trying to win over.
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Source: Koreaboo — read the full story there.
