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'Racism Is Not Comedy' trends as BTS Army fights hatred and demands canceling of 'BTS Bruiser' caricature

'These boys just wanted to influence lives and spread positivity through their words and music but here you are throwing unnecessary hatred towards them'

Amid the hate crime against Asians rising, BTS ARMY took a stand against racism and trended #RacismIsNotComedy. The trend started after BTS fans discovered a caricature of the group in the 2021 'Topps Garbage Pail Kids: The Shammy Awards' series where BTS has been portrayed as ‘BTS Bruisers’ with visible signs of scar on their face. ARMY demanded immediate takedown of the caricature collectibles calling it racist.

The new series of collectibles had caricatures of various artists including BTS. While artistes are featured in the series with names like Harry Boa, Tree Swift, Stunning Stallion, BTS’ comical drawing showed all the members with bruises in a game of Whack-A-Mole where the Grammy award is the supposed hammer and they are bruised by it.

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‘Racism is not Comedy’

BTS has always been vocal about using their voice against racial discrimination and prejudice and has always propagated acceptance of people irrespective of their gender or color. BTS as a Unicef ambassador has been an instrumental voice in spreading the message of love and empathy through their music and other endeavors like the ‘Love Myself’ campaign which they recently initiated.

The South Korean septet is hailed globally even beyond their fandom for crossing language barriers and uniting people with the message of self-love. Fans believe as the Korean artistes who have been working actively to educate and eradicate racism, BTS deserves better.

BTS ARMY created a number of threads to condemn the caricature asking Topps to own up the mistake. A fan noted, “caricature is funny when people are painted in an exaggerated manner for a comic effect n you somehow thought 7 asian men getting beaten up by a grammy trophy at the height of crime against asian communities, after blatantly being milked for views & snubbed, is FUNNY. let’s talk.”

Another said, "These boys just wanted to influence lives and spread positivity through their words and music but here you are throwing unnecessary hatred towards them. It honestly feels like the whole world is against us, but I am here to stand by your side, always, bts. #RacismIsNotComedy."

Another fan noted, "We have our Advocacy and we will use it to speak up for what right and wrong. Let's not be voiceless forever and learn how to voice out our rights. Especially to those people who keeps on making fun of other people because they think highly of themselves. #RacismIsNotComedy".

BTS ARMY has also shared some educational threads on Anti-Asian racism. A fan posted, "instead of saying 'reply with tags' please link resources along so that information is spread #StopAsianHate #AsiansAreHuman." Take a look at more sources here.

'Love Myself' campaign

BTS has recently renewed their commitment to UNICEF to help end violence and neglect, and promote children and young people’s self-esteem and well-being through 'Love Myself' campaign. As a part of the campaign, BTS and Big Hit will donate over $1 million to UNICEF, along with proceeds from the sale of LOVE MYSELF merchandise and a portion of profit from LOVE YOURSELF album sales. In a video speech, RM said, “We are extremely moved and thankful that our LOVE MYSELF campaign, which began with small steps, is now being elevated to an even bigger partnership. We also strived to “LOVE MYSELF” ourselves, and I think we as a team and as individuals grew as well.”

Watch the video here: