For K-pop fans, an idol’s birthday is an incredibly important day. Every year, on the birthdays of BTS members, ARMYs all over the world organize large-scale promotional campaigns as a way to celebrate and show their love and support for their idols.
On September 12, fans will come together to celebrate the birthday of BTS’s leader, RM. This will be his first birthday since completing his military service, which makes the atmosphere even more exciting and festive.
Just like in previous years, fans have already spent money on advertising projects, including ads in subways, shopping malls, streets, and bus stops, all featuring meaningful messages dedicated to RM. These birthday projects are always well-received, with many people posting photos to check in at the ad locations.
However, this year’s birthday promotions for RM encountered an υиєχρє¢тє∂ problem just one week before his birthday. Shockingly, the party responsible for disrupting the birthday advertising project was none other than the famous fashion brand - Levi’s кσяєα.
The incident started when a fan posted a photo showing that Levi’s кσяєα event posters had been placed over RM’s birthday posters at a bus stop in the Nine One Hannam area. What made the situation more serious was that this space had been legally rented by fans, well in advance, for the sole purpose of displaying RM’s birthday ads.
Reportedly, the posters that Levi’s кσяєα placed were meant to promote a special pop-up project called “LEVI’S® BOUTIQUE VILLAGE,” which runs from September 5 to September 14, 2025, in the Hannam-dong area. However, it remains unclear whether Levi’s кσяєα had officially rented the advertising space or why they would place their ads directly over an existing legal birthday project, completely covering RM’s face.
Levi’s кσяєα’s actions quickly faced heavy backlash from fans and netizens. ARMYs expressed their outrage on social media by posting evidence and tagging the brand directly. Some fans even contacted Levi’s кσяєα to demand the posters be removed and for RM’s birthday ads to be restored to their original state.
The brand then responded via email, claiming that their posters had been removed. However, this was a lie! In reality, the posters had only been removed on one side, while the other side remained completely intact. In the end, it was the fans themselves who had to personally remove the posters and restore RM’s birthday ads.
This act only fueled the anger even more! Fans accused Levi’s of disrespecting both fans and the idol. They also criticized the brand for engaging in unfair advertising practices by covering someone else’s legally placed ads — behavior they deemed unworthy of a prestigious global fashion brand. Fans demanded a formal public apology. The growing backlash quickly became a hot topic on social media and attracted attention from кσяєαn media outlets.
In response to the mounting criticism, Levi’s кσяєα released an official statement on Instagram: "Levi’s кσяєα has recently recognized that our event poster was placed over advertisements prepared by BTS fans. We sincerely apologize to everyone who prepared the advertisements for the inconvenience caused. We will conduct thorough internal checks and exercise greater caution to ensure that such an incident does not occur again".
The statement helped ease some of the anger within the ARMY community, but the brand’s image was still damaged. Many felt that Levi’s should take this as a serious lesson and be more careful with their public communications going forward.
Some ARMYs expressed relief that the issue had been resolved peacefully ahead of RM’s birthday, while others hoped this would be the last time fans’ efforts were disregarded in such a way.
