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'Street Man Fighter': Melodys trend #MNETApologizeToBTOB after Mnet gives fans an excuse

Mnet issues a statement trying to wash their hands off from the controversy involving the dance crew BankTwoBrothers and the boy group BTOB

Having a unique group name in K-pop is very important for the identity of any collective in the industry. Having debuted in the third generation of K-pop, the Cube Entertainment boy group BTOB has made quite the name for themselves and now fans are upset that their identity is being tarnished by the media company Mnet. The seven-member boy group made its debut in 2012 with a unique name BTOB, one that was promoted in their fandom with the message - 'Born To Beat'. The name was pronounced as be-to-be and now, a decade since that, the boy group which is still active is known by their name.

This is why when Mnet announced the name of their new dance crew which will feature in the upcoming dance reality show, 'Street Man Fighter', fans lost their calm. Melodys (fans of BTOB) stated that Mnet was trying to erase the veteran boy group by naming a dance crew with a similar tagline and an identical name. The dance crew BankTwoBrothers came to be stylized as BIIB but was pronounced as be-to-be and went with the tagline, 'Born To Be Hip' which is eerily similar to that of the K-pop group BTOB.

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Is Mnet trying to erase BTOB?

Fans started trending the hashtag #MNETApologizeToBTOB in their quest to seek justice from the company for how they disrespected the boy group. After fans started expressing their rage against the company, BTOB's label, Cube Entertainment issued its official statement regarding the issue. The label said, "We have recognized that the name of the crew participating on Mnet's 'Street Man Fighter' is the same as our artist and that the crew's logo and slogan are similar." Cube added that they have let Mnet know that their boy group Mnet's logo and name are registered with trademark rights.

The label told fans that they have threatened the company stating that if Mnet continues to use to name and the logo, it could escalate to trademark infringement. Cube Entertainment stated that they also, "strongly requested an apology regarding this." The label also mentioned that they requested that the crew of BankTwoBrothers use only their full name, and change their logo and slogan. Cube Entertainment reported that they had received a reply from the production staff at Mnet who reassured the label that they would not only use the crew's full name but that they will change the logo and similar slogan.

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Mnet issues a statement about the clash with BTOB

While Mnet has still not apologized to BTOB or Cube Entertainment about the issue yet but the Entertainment company has released its official statement about the matter. In their statement, Mnet's production crew said that 'BankTwoBrothers is currently participating on 'Street Man Fighter' with Mnet.' They stated that the acronym BIIB was an acronym that was already being used by BankTwoBrothers. The company added that they acknowledge that this acronym has created confusion among fans and in order to avoid that, Mnet would be using only the full name of the crew going forward.

The production crew also added that as for the logo and slogan of the dance crew, in order to increase its originality, Mnet is working on changing them. Mnet promised fans that starting next week, they will show the new versions of the slogans and the logo of the dance crew, BankTwoBrothers.

'Mnet are you going to apologize to BTOB?'

Despite releasing an entire statement about the matter, Mnet is yet to apologize to BTOB for causing concern with their initial mistake. Fans are sharing their concern by trending the hashtag #MnetApologizeToBTOB on Twitter. One fan said, "Life will be more peaceful, only if you know how to apologize @MnetKR." Another fan said, "Hi, @MnetKR, I think your publicity team dropped this so I picked it up for you." One fan said, "'Mnet decides to change'??? 'Caused confusion'??? No, MNet changes it AFTER BEING CALLED OUT FOR TWO DAYS and there isnt any confusion here, its TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT Use a little bit of your brain before making explanation."

One fan said, "@MnetKR are you gonna drag this throughout the weekend? Or there's a 'lucky hour' that you need to wait for to release an apology statement? Will you hire a Korean language master to finalize it? Make sure there's no confusion between explanation and apology." One fan said, "I feel so angry right now… I’ve been inactive here for God knows how long. But this time, I can’t just let this slip away… you do a proper apology not just a letter of explanation@MnetKR! #MNETApologizeToBTOB."