I just came across this article by Tom May for Creative Bloq entitled, "What the insanity around BTS can teach us about branding in 2026," and I'd love to get fellow ARMYs' thoughts on it. None of us are strangers to the poor treatment BTS receive in the media, but none of us are strangers to Hybe's seedy inner workings either.

Still, I hate to see corporate strategy equated with BTS's emotional impact. I also thought the explanation of the "scarcity model" and obtaining tour tickets was extremely oversimplified at best, inaccurate at worst.

I know this is an article from what seems like a smaller-scale site geared towards branding and marketing professionals. It's also not the worst media treatment of Bangtan I've seen by a long shot. But I worry about ARMYs being painted as slaves to parasocial relationships with BTS. I've never seen any other fandom or group written about this way.