“I-LAND 2” New Girl Group’s Alleged Totalitarian Anagram Stirs Online Controversy
Mnet‘s I-LAND 2 concluded this week. On the night of July 2, 2024, the group’s name was revealed to be izna, and the lineup of members was announced.
Instantly, the name received mixed reactions. Some thought it was unique, yet it also earned comparisons to another survival show group: IZ*ONE of Produce 48 origin.
- I thought it was IZ*ONE.
- It sounds like the name of a butter brand.
- I typed izna… but I also typed iz a $…
- IZIZIZIZ*ONE.
- Names were good up to Wanna One.
- izna schmizna.
- Are there many Japanese kids?
- izzzzna Mizznaaaa~
- Is I-LAND 2 by Mnet, or is it completely under CJ now?
Yet, izna has another criticism against it. Some are suspecting it’s an anagram.
an·a·gram ˈa-nə-ˌgram. 1. : a word or phrase made by transposing the letters of another word or phrase. The word ‘secure’ is an anagram of ‘rescue.’
— Merriam-Webster
A netizen quote-tweeted an announcement of the group’s name, writing, “do they realise that if you rearranged the letters, you’d get a certain totalitarian ideology?” The tweet indicates that “izna” is an anagram of “Nazi,” the far-right National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
Nazism formally National Socialism is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.
— Wikipedia
do they realise that if you rearranged the letters, you'd get a certain totalitarian ideology? https://t.co/qHEZiafiiR
— haxen 🌉 (@haxegons) July 4, 2024
The tweet went viral with 2M views at the time of writing. Netizens were divided about it, though.
Some confessed they had made the same realization. They felt that it was careless of the company to overlook this. However, many thought it was “weirder to think of this in the first place,” telling the OP (Original Poster) not to rearrange the letters.
Last year, a Boys Planet project group had to change its name after netizens pointed out its “NSFW meaning.” Read more below.
