T-ara Continues PR Trainwreck

I don't know if you all have realized by now, but Kim Kwang Soo (or his PR team) has the absolute worst sense I've ever seen while managing a public figure. We all know how deep in the shithole T-ara and their reputations are, and as such, any and all promotions from here on out should be very carefully vetted and strictly scripted to avoid any potential flareups.

Beyond all common sense and/or logic, this was not to be.

"I have no idea what KKS wants me to do anymore."

Let's take a look at some of their recent newsworthy appearances. First, T-ara and a couple of their labelmates (including Hyoyoung, eeeeee drama enough amrite) volunteered their time over the Lunar New Year.

Label mates T-ara and SPEED performed a good deed for Lunar New Year by serving tteokguk (rice cake soup) to 1,000 people in need for their charity event. The event was held at Brilliant Chicken (Gilbalhan Chicken) in Bucheon on the 9th.

T-ara and SPEED also donated 100 bags of rice to an orphanage in Bucheon and invited 12 children from the orphanage to enjoy rice cake soup, take photos, and receive autographed CDs. More members of the Core Contents Media family, The SEEYA and 5dolls, were also present at the event to serve rice cake soup as well.

It's lovely that they would do some good ol' fashioned charity work to help the less-fortunate out there. Genuinely well-intentioned or not, it's a common PR move that usually works well. Shows people that the people/group is human and has feelings and is so selfless, etc. T-ara have done plenty of charity work in the past, so it also helps to show that nothing's changed and that T-ara are still the same sweet girls that help out orphans or old folks or whatever. What I do have a problem with is the specifics of the charity work they did.

Don't get me wrong, volunteering at the orphanage is totally fine. But of all things out there and available to do, why on Earth would anyone think "feeding rice cakes" to people was a good idea?? Have you not followed any of the T-ara drama, Kim Kwang Soo? If you don't remember, Eunjung was accused of force-feeding Hwayoung rice cakes while they guested on some Japanese variety show, and that was one of the main "evidence" for Hwayoung's bullying scandal. Regardless of whether it was actual bullying or not, SOMEONE on the goddamn PR team should have realized how volatile that particular food was and picked something else to do.

I'm not saying that T-ara should avoid doing charity work or feeding the needy out of fear of netizen reaction or haters, but at least pick something that won't give people an easy opening to dust off the rice cake jokes.

1. [+374, -6] ㅋㅋㅋ They can never escape the rice cake

2. [+352, -10] Eunjung personally shoved rice cakes down their throats

3. [+309, -12] Eunjung must be good at cooking up rice cake soup. A pot full of determination. 

4. [+51, -4] The girls are working this hard.. I think it's time that we stop the hateful replies and try to see them in a positive light... my a$$, fu*k off, girls. 

5. [+47, -1] Hyomin bi*ch can have sex while the Eunjung bi*ch feeds her rice cakes and then the cyclops bi*ch can film the entire thing... Crazy... (TN: 'hitting rice cakes' is a slang for sex - I know, insane how this all plays out.)

Shoulda went with fried chicken. Bitches love fried chicken.

More recently, Soyeon did a guest appearance (via pre-recorded interview, but whatevs) on MBC's "All the KPop" to help promote We Got Married. Again, fairly standard stuff that allows people to seem more relatable, gives an opportunity to get back in the spotlight, etc while simultaneously being nice and brief. A simple little "get in, say your shit, get out" kind of thing. At least in theory.

... T-ara‘s Soyeon revealed [her] ideal ‘We Got Married‘ partner!

The upcoming episode of MBC Music‘s ’All the K-Pop‘ will reveal which stars the idol singers fantasize if they were to star on the faux-marriage program...

Through a video clip played during the show, Soyeon revealed her pick to be none other than world-sensation Psy. She joked, “With Psy’s financial power, I think I will be able to wait for him at home,” drawing laughs.

WHY SOYEON, WHY?! Sure it was a joke, but do you not realize how closely you're being scrutinized right now?! When it comes to this kind of thing, the joke goes waaaaaaaaaay over people's heads and you're taken at face value. Let me break down exactly why this was a bad idea for you.

• Psy is at the top of his game right now, pretty much a god among Koreans for bringing great honor to the nation with Gangnam Style and its viral success. Yes, he makes bank and everyone wants a piece of the horse D (if you know what I mean).
• Soyeon is probably at the bottom of the totem pole because she's been shit on for being part of T-ara. Search your feelings, you know this to be true.
• Psy is married.
• Soyeon has a bad rep with netizens for allegedly being a homewrecker. Rumor has it that she was kicked out of the final SNSD lineup for sleeping with one of the managers. Who happened to be married at the time. Regardless of whether that's true or not, the stigma/rumor is irrevocably attached to her image.
• Being a gold-digger in most countries is a bad thing (I don't see why, das my dream doe.) and in Korea they have a special term for them, or at least the general mentality of being obsessed with material wealth: "김치걸" or "된장녀." Not exactly the best thing to be referred as. 

As you can probably imagine, it was the perfect mix for a hater cocktail.

1. [+884, -14] She sounds crazed for money; Or are married men the type of men she likesㅡㅡ?

2. [+810, -9] Soyeon is so determined to get hated on

3. [+740, -12] Wow ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ T-ara definitely never fails to disappoint ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ crazyㅋㅋㅋ

4. [+61, -0] Looks like the rumor about her having an affair with a married man while still under SM is true. She wants to film WGM with a married man ㅋㅋ

5. [+52, -1] Kwang Soo, what're you doing? Surgery to sew her mouth shut is urgent!

6. [+51, -0] Is she trying to cement her image with the affair rumor? Why is she carving down her own image? I'm pretty sure she knows what her image is like with the public right now...

7. [+50, -0] Is she saying this knowing that Psy's a married man... Use your brains, Soyeon..

8. [+41, -0] Wouldn't expect any less from her ㅋㅋㅋ Affair ㅋㅋㅋ

9. [+38, -0] Is she crazy, why would she choose a married man for WGM;;; Is there anything inside her head?

10. [+36, -0] Hul... Soyeon already has rumors about having an affair with a married man while a trainee.. Why is she so oblivious? 

Come on Soyeon, you can't honestly be this oblivious to what's going on around you. It's one thing to adopt the "Fuck da Haters" mentality, but it's quite another thing entirely to shoot yourself in the foot like this.

For the most part, I blame Kim Kwang Soo and/or the CCM PR team. They're really out of touch with the netizen sentiment, and for someone like a celebrity who relies on the goodwill of the public, that kind of thing is killer. But this is Kim Kwang Soo and CCM we're talking about here, so we shouldn't be too surprised at this point that he's continuing to fuck up with T-ara.

"Bad PR is still PR, amirite?"