Apparently, netizens are WWII insignia experts.
There’s been a lot of hoot and holler for Girls Generation’s new “marine girl” look, but it’s not all male gawking and hairstyle compliments. The girls are currently getting a lot of flack for their insensitive use of imagery that conjures up Nazi and Kamikaze insignia. It all started when the keen eyes of netizens noticed that the fighter plane on their new album cover looks almost exactly the same as the A6M Zero-Sen aircraft that were introduced during World War II and utilized by Kamikaze suicide bombers.
And if that wasn’t enough to fuel the fire, netizens continued analyzing the individual concept photos of the girls and found that their military pins resembled the ones used by the Nazi regime. The eagle has been a part of the coat of arms of Germany for its entire history as a unified state, but the design of the eagle pins on the hats and breast resemble the Parteiadler, which is the eagle insignia for the Nazi party.
Some of the girls also sport iron cross breast pins that are the national symbol for German military decoration, since the early 1800s. So of course, if we’re going to conjure up images of the German military, people think of WWII.
Honestly, it is undeniable that these symbols, minus obvious swastikas and Japanese flags, are present in the girls photos. SM Entertainment released a statement regarding the WWII imagery, citing it was the ignorance of the photo shoot designer and that the girls are not to blame. Looks like someone should have done a little more research before designing that album cover and props. SM went on to further say that this was by no means intentional, and that they were simply going for a marine concept more than anything.
You know, sometimes netizens dig up interesting pieces of information, but this just leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The Japanese occupation and German imperialism during WWII is still a very sensitive subject for Koreans, so it is understandable why they are so furious over this blatant display of ignorance, but is it necessary to just rub everyone’s face in it so much just to tarnish the reputation of these girls who probably haven’t had enough education to fully realize people’s distress?
Side note~isn’t it ironic that the most controversial Girls Generation member Tiffany is so conveniently clean of any WWII insignia in her individual shot?
ic
agh. balogna. let’s blame the girls anyways. C:
Why for? That’s just immature.
LOL.
very immature
because SNSD.. is VERY ignorant.
sdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdf
who cares? about them! i dont care no one cares! its just no body wants to know and hear about them!!! coz’ they are not hot! whatever!!!!!!!
i care. i don’t really like them. i like Big Bang, WG, SNSD, Lee Hyori, Ayumi, DBSK, Suju, and i don’t get maniacally reaterded like you. just enjoy their music and stop bashong others. get.a.life.
excuse me SNSD = Girl Generation…do u get it?
That’s typical military symbols… they still use it nowadays – but without the Nazi-cross of course. I don’t think that another symbols and pins would fit here. Or can you imagine Hello Kitty or else on thier out-fit? Come on people don’t blame them on that.
korean netizens sure never miss a single thing
srsly theyre crazy & need some outdoor hobbies or something lol
snsd isnt to blame snsd for this either, not like they themselves designed the stuff, i feel bad for whoever did though, they must be getting alot of crap hahah
whoa. I wonder who wasted their time to research this. anyways *clapclapclap* Congrats! Does that mean SNSD disappears? NOPE :]
uh-oh! goodluck yeojas!
lol imagirl’ sounds and types like a retard.
The symbol does not mean wat u think it means. there is another meaning to tat symbol. The meaning is peace. As I have learned, Hitler or Germans stole that symbol and made it evil to the world, but orginally that symbol is the symbol for peace.Im sure tat the girls are using the symbol in the peace way.
Yes, it’s a buddhistic sign too. So they are buddhistic marines? See the context, what you’re saying is totally irrelevant.
Thought it was native american…
Agreed. When juxtaposed with the marine look and the shape of the badges they’re wearing, ‘peace’ is the last thing that comes to mind.
Maybe there’s a misunderstanding. I thought that shining_star was talking about the swastikas. How hitler stole it from buddhism/hindoeism and made it a bad thing.
I was agreeing with your initial comment as to how based on the context, the swastika most likely wasn’t meant for peace.
err.. I’m pretty sure that the symbols are different. The buddhism one rotates counter-clockwise while the swastika rotates clockwise..
Actually they are both in the same direction and the same. Only the hitler thing is rotated 45 degrees more. Anyway a swastika is a swastika and it leaves a bad taste. I don’t know about other countries, but I know that a nazi swastika is forbidden in the netherlands and in germany.
these netizens have too much free time on their hands. how I envy them. poo. and they had to move the mini-album’s release date because of this? poo. poo. poo.
Ok i live in europe in this place where old people still talk about the germans stealing their bikes and all that shiz. And where some people still call germans “moffen”.
I think this is a tad bit insensitive. And how much education do you need for this? Don’t blame anything on education, some things you just know. Do people nowadays only know things that are spelled out for them explicitly? Like sense the controversy before you release anything people.
But accusing GirlsG of war crimes is insensitive too if you know what the germans did. They just made a big mistake.
yeah naziploitation (sexy nazis tortured in softcore), uniform chic have been in vogue for a while…usually in “edgy” stuff like B-movies and controversial fashion by designers who wanted to “make big statements”. Kpop recycling, regurgitating so often just skips the historical context – where nazi symbols WERE used in pop culture like fashion, music, movies but in “kinky” ways.
Girls Gen are mainstream Kpop, so it doesn’t fit at all. they just want to sexy uniforms – check out Triumph of the Will, you don’t get more sexier young blond guys in cut uniforms
korean stylists need to get more creative: think like sci-fi & don’t copy stuff with cruel expansionist history so closely. many ways to do uniform. unless they ARE trying to say something about reinventing wartime symbols.
I agree
Symbolism in music? Wake up you fools, it’s not anything new! Jay-Z uses the all-seeing pyramid eye from the dollar sign and then does the pyramid sign with his hands as well. Why is this weird? Well, because Jay-Z is a freemason and he also supports the Rockefellers, one of the most richest families in the USA.
think before you speak.
what mfing symbolism?
“genie” and nazi symbolism?
How does that work?
who cares?
It was wrong for the SM designers to put it on there in the first place but it’s also wrong for netizens to purely blame snsd girls. But in saying that, the Korean-Japanese war is still a sensitive topic for Koreans so don’t comment saying things like “who cares” or “get over it”. That’s just culturally insensitive
maybe the netizens should just shut there mouths up because GIRLS GENERATION REALLY ROCKS,!!! WEEEEE
whaaat?? SNSD wh NAZI insignia?!?!? SEXY!!! common lets face it..GERMAN insignia is UBER COOL!!
how DUMB -_-
does the fault lie with uneducated entertainers or nitpicky netizens? who’s to say?
it’s nothing more than a photo shoot design concept gone terriby awry
I think SM knew it, they just wanna make people curious and pay attention to Snsd more and more. SM is Smart money hungry..
Now I come to think about it, maybe you are right. I guess SM just wants SNSD to be on the NEWS to get more people’s attention for their comeback since no one seems to give a damn care about them and their comeback
I love how some of you people pretend that no one cares about snsd’s comeback or the girls in general because you don’t want to admit that they’re actually popular.
OH right I’m pretending that no one cares about them cause I don’t want to admit that they are popular since I’m really jealous of them. That’s what u wanted to hear, right? well you’re not getting that from me. They’re popular??? well maybe since they regularly make headlines with their mindless comments.
Yeah and if they are really popular like you said then why is not SM debuting them in Japan since LSM seems to take his every popular talented group there? Now SHINee is also debuting there who are their juniors. Ironic, isn’t it? Even their rivals Wonder Girls are debuting in US and where is SNSD? Still dancing in shorts with their lollipops.
lol..SM is not desperate for getting attention…it is because SNSD too popular right now and becoming hot topic discussion among netizen for their comeback…thanks to crazy netizen who have too much time do research about this information and now their cover album getting controversy even before its release….
because of this controversy issue, their schedule album to relaese on 25th now being postpone to 29th..
dont know how much money SM have to spend if they are gonna change their album cover…
agree. there’s too much stuff for it to be a simple mistake. the japanese plane AND the nazi symbol as well? it’s obvious they had WWII theme in mind. now either they didn’t give a damn about what people think (which is false considering they are “replacing” it) or yes, it’s a publicity stunt.
Posted something that’s going under moderation…
but SM is gonna change the logos and the plane
LOL
netizens sure give attention to every detail XD
but, they should pay more attention to what they wear/ let them wear, because i think that WWII has to be taken really serious! :/
hehe snsd<3
netizens are something. lol.
honestly i dont know what to comment. It wasnt SNSD’s fault, but i dont like SM blaming the photoshoot artists either.
lol !
the netizens are impressive -.-
um, that iron cross is a GERMAN military symbol still in use today. it’s not a NAZI symbol. Korean’s should get their fact straight first!
On a side note. DAMN that tiffany is so hot i’d blow my wad just freakin looking at her!
tiffany was in hot chair again.. haha
1. SM doesn’t need attention. If they reazlly wanted other newer artists attention, they can just bundle them up with thier older popular artsts.
2. Uhg, it’s a shame that the photoshoot turned out this way. This is just going to leave sime iffy impression and probably some delay to their photo albums.
I both love and hate those netizens lol
I mean they really have too much time indeed.
But I’m anticipating their comeback. can’t wait!!
Netizens are so lame…..
That’s just funny! Guess it shows how far these girls have come! Netizens really want to bring them down, but SNSD will dominate again this year, so too bad!
If you love em’, you love em’, if you hate em’, you hate em’, so this really makes no difference except to create another reason for crazy netizens and antis to hate on SNSD more. Well get over it! It’s not going to change anything!
So not only are bad signing and dancing, also ignorant enough to make such a faux
then this is the image male idolatry and girls try to emulate
nice, where are the people’s brains
This isnt a mistake by SM, I am pretty sure they knew. These companies pay attention to every little detail, down to a hair being out of place, and these photos came across many desks before being released and you thing they ALL missed the similarities!
thats HILARIOUS..those netizens have no life
it’s a good step of SM to change the photos,it’s something noble here!
the girls have nothing to with this,they are not generals they are singers!
hope them all the luck in the world,coz the song genie is good & they deserve success!
PS:debuting in other countries isn’t really important if u can’t give something to overseas fans,look at Hyori!
Hyoyeon’s cross is the victorian cross! It’s a cross symbol used by many other organizations NOT just the Nazis or by Germans!
that’s what i thought!
I feel sorry for their stylist or wardrobe person. lol. How much you wanna bet that after this, the company will fire them? or at least give them a warning?
wow. who would have noticed?
At least this was done before it was released. Since SM reacted quickly, everything’s gonna be alright now.
And besides, this isn’t going to change the fact that the album is still going to top the charts. Not because of this controversy but because they have pure talent. That’s all that matters. I’m just glad the the girls are still going strong & aren’t gonna get anything like this get in their way.
haha.
PS is soooo right on the last line about Tiffany XD
i wonder why she does’nt get any designs at all when the others had more than 1 or 2 designs on their uniforms?
seems like she’s been quite low key and quiet ever since the incidents regarding the words that she said.
dude, yeah i’m sure she was like “i’ll just cover this up on purpose and get off easy while the others take the heat.” that means she would’ve had to realize what netcitizens would think in the first place. wouldn’t she have told the management about it if that was the case? SHE WAS JUST FREAKING POSING AND HER BADGES/MEDALS HAPPENED TO GET COVERED UP BY HER HAT.
if you look at the first picture with all of them you can tell that she has designs also. look behind sooyoung’s left arm.
Hahahahahaha. Man Koreans can be dumb sometimes. How could they not know these symbols are conroversial and disgusting ? Get your heads out of your bum and learn a bit about the world!!!
Koreans only care about Koreans
LOL!!! Netizens need to get a freaking life, that’s all.
in the military you kinda run out of symbols to use so just because the nazi party used it, doesn’t mean other military organizations haven’t or has either. the designers were probably like, “oh, this looks cool.” The ribbon on the medals might be the same colors but you kinda run out of colors too. let me know when the military starts using pink ribbon.
And as for the plane thing, ALL FREAKING PLANES LOOK THE SAME!!!! So it has wings and is black and white like the other one who cares??!!
look at the right wing. they forgot to photoshop the rising sun off of it.
BUSTED!
OMG who cares
its just a costume
they will probably change them later on
jeez whats with this whole idea
who has the time to investigate into those matters
I think the album cover would look much better without the aircraft. In my opinion the picture of the aircraft gives it a lame look.
Why didn’t their people research this?
The whole outfit was just supposed to look cute.
They needed details so they put a bunch of universal military pins.
They didn’t mean it as anything else.
Just cuteness.
Because every male has fantasies of hot girls dressed up as sailors!
that’s too bad for SNSD – but it’s their stylist’s fault.
still they look all great and Soo Young is gorgeous!!! <3
The whole outfit was just supposed to look cute.
They needed details so they put a bunch of universal military pins.
They didn’t mean it as anything else.
Just cuteness.
Because every male has fantasies of hot girls dressed up as sailors!
—————-
Ah yeah ! Those nazi’s who killed 6 million jews are just so adorable ! So cute ! Jees ! Those people who think things like genocide are more important than fashion are so stupid !
(ps : look up “sarcasm”)
waaaaah
in germany this “fylfot” they have of their uniform is very baaaad .hahaa