BTS Fans Slam V for Promoting Coca-Cola Tied to Israeli Settlements

BTS’ Taehyung, better known to international fans as V, is facing a wave of criticism online for his recent endorsement deal with the Korean branch of Coca-Cola. Following the announcement of the global soda company’s new ambassador, the Korean pop star, on July 31, netizens began to scrutinize and protest against the collaboration by accusing the company of selling their drinks in Israel-occupied territories and criticizing V for supporting “the genocides.”

BTS’ V Shares New Photo Marking the End of Media Training

The promotional campaign for Coca-Cola Korea’s zero-sugar beverage, known as #BestCokeEver, was first introduced to the public a week ago with the same visuals that were used to announce BTS’ V as their new face of the brand, replacing the girl group NewJeans and his fellow HYBE label mates. However, despite being an ordinary celebrity endorsement, this collaboration with one of the world’s largest beverage brands has raised concerns that the idol’s latest advertising move for Coca-Cola Zero went “silent” about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and Israel, stirring up wide discussions and boycott campaigns on social media.

The Backlash Over the Silence in Gaza

On the one hand, what has caught the attention of BTS fans and media, most recently, is the massive disconnect between BTS’s public stance on pressing issues like discrimination against Asians and hate crimes, as well as the BLM movement, and their relatively long silence in Gaza.

The GRAMMY-nominated K-pop idols have supported social movements and many progressive and progressive-leaning causes in the past. However, BTS has been more reserved when it comes to Gaza and the growing humanitarian crisis there, and their decision to collaborate with a company that has been on the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) list for the last decade has attracted criticism.

V previously faced a much smaller yet similar backlash back in 2023 for his post of McDonald’s fries on his social media on Jan. 25. The anti-BDS community has frequently voiced out their concerns over the K-pop idol’s promotion of a brand with its ongoing controversies with Israel.

Coca-Cola’s Involvement in the Occupied Israeli Territories

The controversy also comes just days after Coca-Cola was being heavily scrutinized and accused by activists in Bangladesh after the brand’s ad that read “We have no presence in Israel” came out.

Pro-Palestine activists took to Twitter and called it out as a lie when they also listed evidence that showed Coca-Cola’s operations in occupied Israeli territories, specifically in illegal settlements.

The Israeli division of the international company, Coca-Cola Israel, reportedly produces its syrup concentrate in the Atarot Settlement Industrial Zone in an industrial park built on the occupied lands of East Jerusalem and other land that Palestinians have been evicted from.

The facility is owned by the Sodastream company, which is based in Israel and makes Coca-Cola Israel. The company has made products using grapes from illegal Israeli settlements on the West Bank, as well as those from the Syrian Golan Heights, in their Tabor Winery in the occupied territory.

As a result, Coca-Cola, which is very active in Israel, has been one of the regular targets for the BDS campaigns.

Social Media Calls for Boycotting Coca-Cola and BTS V

V, who first released a “bored” individual photo marking the beginning of media training on July 25 as a new Coca-Cola ambassador, has also come under fire as fans and pro-Palestine communities started to put #BoycottCocaCola and #CancelV trends on social media.

In particular, Twitter has been flooded with anti-Coca-Cola, anti-BTS V hashtags, and angry, frustration-filled content against the global idol boyband as well as the K-pop star himself.

Fans have specifically called out V and BTS for their silence in Gaza and “support for genocide” in various ways, particularly via messages they wrote and shared to the left-wing international artist.

One of the trending tweets, a post that BTS international ARMYs and other pro-Palestine communities began to tweet and retweet out of disappointment and frustration toward V reads, “Dear Taehyung BTS, Coca Cola has been operating on the stolen land of the Palestinians, some of whom are your ARMYs. Please don’t work with and promote its products. Please educate yourself. Cancel the endorsement and stand with humanity.”

Twitter Hashtags About BTS’ V

Apart from the criticism and calls for BTS and V to address Gazas, members of international ARMYs and global fans of the K-pop idols have also gone ahead to launch boycotts against Coca-Cola as fans in the United States, the United Kingdom, India, Ireland, Indonesia, Norway, and other countries.

The promotional clip of BTS’ V for Coca-Cola Zero, as of July 31, has been playing online while Coca-Cola’s #BestCokeEver hashtag, as well as other song-related hashtags, were met with further demands to publicly support Palestine and cut ties with Israel.