TWICE’s Mina Once Got Stuck In The Middle Of A Heated Argument Between Her Managers And A Fan
During a fansign for their “Dance The Night Away” promotions, TWICE‘s Mina got stuck in the middle when her fan refused to move on at her manager’s request.
A clip captured at the fan sign shows the ONCE (the man in the black and white striped shirt) sitting down in front of Mina as she interacts with before signing his album.
As she finished signing, a female manager can be seen gesturing and speaking to the fan. The manager then grabbed the signed album, causing the TWICE fan to attempt to wrest it from her hand in a brief tug-of-war moment.
Mina dealt with the tension calmly, continuing to keep eye contact with her fan and smiling at him while listening to what both he and the manager had to say.
She even signed another page at the fan’s insistence, defusing the situation which seemed to become more heated as the managers and TWICE fan argued.
But the clip has led to netizen debate over how quickly the managers were moving the fan on, and who was in the wrong.
- “Wow they get barely any time at all, they were kicking him out before she even finished signing her autograph.”
- “I watched the first 5 minutes and based on my casual observation I assume the managers are using a timer app on their phones set to around ~30 seconds per interaction…. Watching this fan sign reminded me that k-pop is a business, businesses are for making money and time is money.”
- “30 seconds? Damn, what can you even do with that little amount of time, they should’ve given the fans more consideration. They are spending a lot of money just to see them.”
There are those fans who think fan sign events are all about making money, not about fan interaction.
- “Cultivating a fanbase and dedicated fans that will buy dozens of albums definitely seems like a business move to me. Probably a two birds with one stone sort of thing though.”
And others who think it’s actually a waste of time for agencies, especially with such a massive group like TWICE.
- “Fan meetings are the complete opposite of a business maneuver. They’re an inefficient waste of time that take a huge amount of effort for little gain. Any celebrity can choose to limit fan interaction, hell, some even avoid social media altogether because of it and don’t sign autographs for people. These girls have packed schedules and yet they do fan meets still. They have to meet hundreds to thousands of people face-to-face, pay attention to them, and make them feel welcome in a short amount of time. All this – probably – after a long and exhausting performance on stage.”
- “It might be [business] for smaller kpop groups, creating loyalty, cd sales, and marketing. But, for Twice? You don’t think they could spend that time easily doing other things that gain more money? Get a TV appearance, or an advertisement, or work on a new song? The time they spend on fan meets is a huge waste of time.”
And others who think it could have been handled better by both sides, but are praising Mina’s calm reaction.
- “Well that was awkward…maybe both sides should’ve handled it better.”
- “On the one hand, I can understand the managers. It’s a public fan-sign, unlike other fan-signs where only once club members can go. So they do want (in their minds) to get everyone who is in the queue a chance. But then again, the manager shouldn’t have grabbed his album after Mina’s signed it and tell him to move on. Props to Mina for staying cool and keeping eye contact.”
- “Mina handled this perfectly. She didn’t act out in any way and kept the conversation with the fan going and eye contact. She kept talking with him even though the managers were trying to get him away. And also she didn’t seem to show any signs of being bugged or annoyed if she actually was.”
Check out the entire clip below:
