HYBE Labels Is Being Heavily Criticized For The Nearly 900 Photocards To Collect For SEVENTEEN's "FML" Album

Carats (SEVENTEEN’s fandom) have since clarified the misleading photocard math, following the online backlash sparked over the FML album.

In recent times, K-Pop labels have come under increasing scrutiny for promoting practices among fans that can be highly damaging to the environment. For example, some companies give fans the opportunity to interact with their idols through random chance when buying albums, encouraging fans with a lot of disposable income to purchase dozens or even hundreds of albums that later get thrown in the trash.

An excess of albums purchased by a fan to qualify for a seat at a fan meeting | *The Qoo*

Other times, such as the case with SEVENTEEN‘s new FML album, it’s the drive to collect every photocard in an album that leads to tons of sales that end up in the garbage.

NCT albums dumped after photocards were taken out

In earlier days of K-Pop, it wasn’t so hard to collect every member’s photocard in an album since there was usually just one each. In the last couple of years, though, it seems that many artists have been increasing the number of photocards that fans would need to collect to own an entire collection, and the number of photocards in a whole FML collection might just be the highest ever.

According to research done by fans, there is a total of 899 photocards one can collect from SEVENTEEN’s latest album.

congratulations!!! i see that hybe money went into making some extra photo card👍🏼 God bless for your fandom’s PC collectors🙏🏼 that’s 418+312+169….. 899 photo cards https://t.co/X4Q9H5xOJZ pic.twitter.com/09OL8Zqb9X

— rhea🥢 (@fated0613) April 23, 2023

With 13 members in SEVENTEEN, one would expect a large group like them to have more photocards than others. But with the high number different versions of the album all including different photocards, 899 total photocards means there are about 69 different ones for each member, which seems excessive.

Netizens have been quick to share their opinions online on Twitter and Reddit about this situation, criticizing HYBE Labels as hypocrites for encouraging anti-environmental practices after saying that they want to promote “environmental friendliness” in the past.

I thought those are seats for movie or concert

— 解禁 ⁷🥢 (@fahrenheit613) April 23, 2023

please be joking, oh my god

— noire ☽⁷ (@silverykoo) April 23, 2023

it’s very sad that people nowadays buy albums not for their faves’ music but for photocards 😭

— ael | d-day 🥢 (@sugadchwt) April 24, 2023

the kpop photocard culture is causing more damage to our environment 😭😭

— hd (@hanni_xcx) April 24, 2023

Comment
by u/kr3vl0rnswath from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

Comment
by u/TheFrenchiestToast from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

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by u/OdiPsycho from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

Some see this as a way that the label is trying to increase album sales in an increasingly competitive industry, where album sales numbers have been skyrocketing in recent years for many artists.

Comment
by u/ngda93 from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

Comment
by u/Neravariine from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

Comment
by u/Moondrop-Puppet from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

Comment
by u/ttanniecore from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

Comment
by u/Nuimee from discussion I think a group having 900 photocards for an album is too much.
in kpopthoughts

The issue was also shared on another online forum, where there were some people disapproving of the high number of photocards in the FML album.

However, others came to defense of the label, saying that with 28 photocards included in each album, the nearly 900 photocards to collect isn’t as bad as it sounds. Another angle shared was that it was on fans themselves to be more environmentally conscious with their own actions, rather than just blaming K-Pop companies.