“Running Man”‘s Spin-Off Criticized For “Taking Advantage” Of Lesser Known Male Idols And Their Desperation

The highly anticipated variety program, Outrun by Running Man has finally unveiled its first two episodes and unsurprisingly enough, it has started to take over headlines throughout the nation. With three of Running Man‘s original cast members—Kim Jong Kook, Haha, and Ji Suk Jin—and its premiere on Disney+, the show generated a lot of excitement.

The first episode was provided as a connecting piece from the original Running Man series to the spin-off program. This introductory episode allowed for the three Outrun by Running Man members to collaborate ideas and discuss their desires for the show.

However, it was the second episode that has started to receive negative feedback from viewers for its cruel concept regarding the idol guests.

In the second episode of the series, 10 different boy group members appeared wearing various animal masks as the variety program’s first ever guests. As each group was introduced, however, the concept of the episode became prominently clear—the idol members would have to “work” for their identity reveals throughout the episode.

The rules of the episode were very simple: if the idols were able to successfully keep their name tags in the given time frame of the game, their masks could be removed. If they were unsuccessful, however, this meant that their masks would have to remain on their faces for the remainder of the show.

As the episode unveiled itself, the idol members who failed to succeed in the game were given air time, but with their masks still on their faces. Their group names would be shown on the screen below their appearances, but their individual names were not revealed and were instead, replaced by a question mark.

And while the concept may have been funny to some, many viewers had a hard time digesting the idea due to the fact that most of the boy groups were lesser known.

Getting a chance to feature as a guest on a variety program is exposure enough, but a show like Outrun by Running Man—which has a mass following due to its association with Running Man—provides an amazing opportunity for idols. However, the guests were forced to “work” for their identity reveals, which many netizens believed was cruel.

Thousands of netizens flocked to different online communities where they expressed their disappointment with the episode’s concept and their unnecessary cruel treatment of the idol guests.

• “What the, why are they doing that.”
• “Wow, they’re taking advantage of them…they all worked hard for nothingㅠㅠ”
• “When he says, ‘please let me promote just once, just once,’ it’s like he was on an internet broadcast or somethingㅠ”
• “If you listen to K-Pop, even just for a little bit, these are idols you’ve probably heard of. What are they doing.”
• “Whoever thought of this concept should look into a different career fieldㅋㅋ even if you lack common sense, this is really badㅋㅋㅋㅋ”
• “What…what kind of situation is this. How are you going to take their pleas in such a sarcastic manner and joke around with it?”
• “What kind of unlearned behavior is this.”
• “Please stop capitalizing on their desperate pleas.”

Outrun by Running Man recently premiered its first two episodes on November 12 and will air new episodes every Wednesday on Disney+. Check out the trailer for the program below to see what it’s all about.