Rookie group PRITZ, who debuted earlier this year with the single “Go Girls!” in April, has been caught in a controversy after photos of their new logo reminiscing the Nazi symbol began to go viral online.
Many have claimed their logo, a red armband featuring a white circle with a four way arrow in the form of an “X,” highly resembles the Nazi swastika. However, PRITZ’s agency Pandagram released a statement claiming the symbol represented the group’s hope and ambition, and to expand without a limit in four directions, without the thought of representing the Nazis once entering their mind.
The story was also picked up by international media such as the Wall Street Journal (online blog edition), who criticized the choice of outfit and pointed out the various negative reactions PRITZ was gaining on social media sites. The girl group’s agency released a statement saying, “We will distribute a press release clarifying our stance in English and Korean.”
Pandagram told TV Daily on November 15th, “We did not expect the costume to be controversial.”
They further explained that because the stylist initially prepared their costume in black, an armband was added as a focus point to avoid it being plain. “We did not care to to associate ourselves with Nazis. Parts of the music video are currently being modified to reflect the controversy.”
In light of the controversy, some netizens have also accused the agency and group of creating noise marketing to gain attention. To this, the agency denied such accusations, adding, “There is no reason to create a negative image with noise marketing.”
Netizens have flocked to PRITZ’s official website, however, the site has become inaccessible.
PRITZ recently released their latest single, “Sora Sora.”
Source: Daily Korea, TV Daily
