The noise behind hundreds of millions of dong in donations from Vietnamese fan groups

Vietnamese fandom is growing stronger and more professional. However, several times, controversy broke out because the FC operator was accused of not being transparent about money matters.

Along with the development of Kpop artists for many decades, fandom (fan community) has developed strongly, systematically and professionally. Fandom is like a solid foundation to build a position, reputation and especially money for Korean singers and actors.

In Vietnam, the fan community of famous people, especially singers, has existed for decades. However, the scale is not too large and the way of operation is not professional. The level of investment and support for artists is even more difficult to be equal and comparable to Korean artists.

However, with the explosion of the two games Anh trai “say hi”, Anh trai dua ngan cong gai and many projects being carried out, the appearance of Vietnamese fandom is gradually changing. Fandom is now a culture, partly changing the idol game in Vpop.

devoted to idol

At the filming location of Anh trai “say hi”, it is easy to see small trucks filled with food, drinks and next to them are banners and posters of any brother, such as Isaac, Anh Tu Atus, Gerdnang, Phap Kieu, Erik... The same thing happened at the filming location of Anh trai vu ngan cong gai with talented actors Soobin, Kay Tran, Duy Khanh... Such food trucks are often known as foodtruck projects, meaning fans buy food to send to support their idols. The money used to carry out this project is usually spent by one or a group of fans.

Besides, there will be many other activities, the most typical is donating money to vote for idols or buying banners, LED lights... with the sole purpose of showing love for idols. Here, it is not simply spending money but more importantly, fan communities need a lot of time and effort.

Isaac's fans have many plans to support their idol in the "say hi" game. Photo: FBNV.

For example, to achieve Isaac's victory in "Say Hi" Brother, FC Isaac - Lion Kingdom was divided into many different teams, each in charge of different tasks to ensure everything went smoothly and successfully. In which, the voting team, described as the hardest working team, was on duty day and night installing each sim, continuously creating accounts, actively exchanging and dividing slots, voting tirelessly and checking each other to ensure that no votes were missed.

“The team is so active that every day the admin puts down the phone for 10 minutes, the voting groups jump with about 99+ messages. Reading is breathless”, admin FC Isaac - Lion Kingdom shared. And thanks to that, Isaac is one of the 5 winning brothers. Besides, there is also the Content Team, Support Team and behind it all are the fans who have supported money.

In recent days, when people in many localities suffered serious damage due to storms and floods, many fan communities have called on each other to support and help the people. Each person contributed a little effort but turned it into great love and strength, helping people to ease their burden.

For example, a fan of Soobin transferred more than 100 million VND to the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. Sky, Son Tung's fan community, donated a total of 236 million VND. Ho Van Cuong FC also transferred more than 375 million VND to the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front.

But there are still many shortcomings

Fandom culture is gradually developing in Vpop but in general it is still strong, unprofessional and run and managed by fan groups. Therefore, all activities calling for votes, implementing projects... are also carried out spontaneously, so it is difficult to avoid disagreements and problems. The most controversial issue is the issue of transparency in money matters.

On August 15, Soobin's fans sent an email to SpaceSpeakers Group, the singer's management company, to express their frustration and dissatisfaction regarding the FC's management board. In the email, the fans said they had donated up to 45 million VND to vote for Soobin in Anh trai vu ngan cong gai, "however, according to the income and expenditure table, only 22 million VND was used for voting", leading to the singer's performance in the program being affected. In addition, the management board is said to be not transparent in the matter of income and expenditure for the foodtruck project (sending food trucks to support idols).

As soon as the controversy broke out, Soobin's management company had to immediately take action to deal with the incident to appease fans. The company not only required the FC's executive board to transparently declare their finances but also changed the members of the board. The company will recruit new members of the executive board to specialize in each area.

The controversy broke out in the fan group, forcing Soobin's management company to speak up. Photo: FBNV.

Immediately after that, it was HIEUTHUHAI's fan group's turn to have a "civil war". The FC operator was "named" because of his allegedly unclear, sluggish, and unprofessional working style. In a post circulating in HIEUTHUHAI's fan group, the FC operator was accused of not making any private food trucks for the male rapper during his participation in Anh trai "say hi" even though many other brothers had had this plan implemented by fans.

Next, to carry out the project to celebrate HIEUTHUHAI's birthday, fans donated 135 million VND. However, the admin only spent 8 million VND to carry out the plan. After fans complained, the admin increased the amount from 8 million VND to 20 million VND and added 30 million VND for the photobooth. Fans questioned whether the admin was being transparent in financial matters, leading to a loss of trust in the community.

In Korea, to limit fandom activities as much as possible, artists and management companies often have their own websites to not only announce important information but also carry out many other projects and plans.

Returning to the controversy of Soobin's fan group, the fact that the management company promptly intervened and established an official fandom group to directly recruit members and manage subsequent activities shows that fandom culture is gradually being focused on towards more formality and organization.

As the management company explained, the image of the FC somewhat reflects the image of the artist. Therefore, Soobin and the company want to direct the fandom towards civility and solidarity.

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