[Sportschosun reporter Jeong Yu-na] Singer and actress IU (Lee Ji-eun) candidly shared her concern about fans spending money on merchandise. She revealed that she had even considered reducing the variety of merchandise so fans could choose and purchase only what they truly needed, drawing attention.
On the 25th, the YouTube channel Jindol released a video titled "The Ultimate Successful Fan ≪IU Guest Appearance≫." The video showed IU discussing fan culture, merchandise, and photo cards with Jindol and Hidi.
That day, IU brought up her own concerns after hearing that fans welcomed the wide variety of official merchandise being released.
She explained that fans naturally face many expenses when an album release is followed by a concert and enrollment in the ninth fan club membership cycle. She added, "Wouldn't that mean there are quite a lot of expenses in various ways?" and expressed her hope that fans would "choose only what you like."
IU went a step further, saying, "Then let's reduce the merchandise." She explained that she had considered reducing the number of merchandise items altogether to ease the burden on fans.
Hidi, who said she had been a longtime fan of IU, stressed that fans should have the right to decide what to buy. "You're saying we should reduce it here? Choosing what to buy after reducing it is up to us," she said.
Hidi also said that buying merchandise or concert tickets can sometimes give fans the motivation to get through their daily lives. She explained that thinking about merchandise she wants to buy or a concert she wants to attend makes her think, "I guess I need to work," adding that spending as a fan serves as a form of motivation for her.
IU also admitted that the season's greetings released every year had been a subject of concern.
Her concern was that if season's greetings were added when an album had already been released, fans might feel compelled to make another purchase. IU said she had discussed the matter with her company and had even considered boldly skipping season's greetings for an entire year.
She also candidly shared her thoughts on photo cards, one of the main reasons fans buy multiple copies of an album.
IU said that in the past, she had found it difficult to understand why fans bought multiple copies of the same album to collect photo cards. She said she had wondered whether fans could simply print out photos themselves if she posted selfies on social media, fan communities, or fan platforms.
However, IU said she now fully understands why fans want to collect photo cards. She said, "I've now fully come to accept it," acknowledging that collecting photo cards is also a meaningful fan activity for her fans.
Even so, she said it remained difficult to determine whether fans preferred her posting selfies on social media or providing them as photo cards.
jyn2011@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
