Like Loona, BTS came from a relatively small company, BigHit Entertainment.
The strategy isn’t new - in fact, it was employed by fans of now massively popular K-pop group BTS before they rose to greater popularity in 2015 with the release of its title track “I Need U” and The Most Beautiful Moment in Life Pt.
is one super fast and simple way to register if you're not already registered.Ī post shared by Adam Ellis on at 3:30pm PDT The strategy aimed to essentially plaster Loona’s name across Twitter into communities that may not have been aware of the group.įormer BuzzFeed cartoonist Adam Ellis included the phrase in a comic about registering to vote.Įverything is terrible, which means it's so important to vote in your states's midterm elections. Although “stan Loona” became more and more commonplace on K-pop Twitter and other social media, it was still primarily in the context of discussions about Loona itself.īut starting last August, “Orbits,” the name given to Loona fans, began tagging the phrase - typically accompanied by links to Loona music videos - onto unrelated tweets and threads that were already going viral. However, as more group members were released, Loona’s fanbase grew as well. 2016 (following the release of Heejin’s teaser photos). It was first used early on in Loona’s pre-debut activities as early as Sep.
The phrase, often left in comments under unrelated content, was first intended to promote Loona, given the fact that they came from a lesser-known entertainment company.Īt first, “stan Loona” was used in relation to content that actually had something to do with Loona. But “Stan Loona” has transcended simple fan vernacular and become a meme and promotional strategy all in one. In English-speaking K-pop communities, fans are more likely to be referred to as stans of a group or artist than as a fan. The phrase “stan Loona” in and of itself isn’t noteworthy. While collaboration with Western artists isn’t a primary metric of a K-pop group’s success, they collaborated with Grimes on Loona/yyxy’s title track, “Love4eva.” Much of its success is due to Blockberry Creative’s investment in the group - the company provided both the financial and creative support necessary to produce over 20 high-quality music videos before Loona’s official debut. Technically being a pre-debut group, Loona achieved feats that other groups still struggle with: the first music video featuring all 12 members reached over one million views in 24 hours. 20, Loona released its debut EP, + +, with the title track “Hi High.” Prior to its official debut, Loona released 12 single albums, three EPs, two repackage EPs and one single featuring all 12 members.
Loona’s members’ names were announced on a monthly basis, hence its Korean name, 이달의 소녀, which translates to “girl of the month.” Along the way, the 12 girls were grouped into three sub-units: Heejin, Hyunjin, Haseul and ViVi form Loona 1/3 Kim Lip, Jinsoul and Choerry are Loona/Odd Eye Circle Yves, Chuu, Go Won and Olivia Hye form Loona/yyxy and Yeojin, the fourth member, is not part of a current sub-unit. The debut is a typically standard process in K-pop - groups formally release an album (typically an EP), host a debut showcase and promote its new music on music and variety shows.ĭeviation from this process is rare, but Blockberry Creative (Loona’s entertainment company) reverse engineered it. K-pop idols typically debut either as solo artists or within groups ranging anywhere from two to upwards of 13 members at a time. pWPu0ngm2c- shutup your mouse obama MaWho is Loona? Who the fuck is Loona and why is every gay on my TL a stan? If she's not Kat De Loona, I don't know her.