The K-pop culture includes the subculture of idol group fandoms. The fans of these fandoms gather together to often participate in various events to celebrate their beloved idol group.
One of the events is social gatherings in cafes. Fans of popular idols rent or borrow a cafe for a special day such as the idol's birthday and open up the cafe for fellow fans to come and enjoy coffee and desserts along with various photos and merchandise of the idol displayed at the cafe.
Usually, in these cafes, cups, cup sleeves, various packages have the idol's pictures printed on them, and the cafe interior is decorated with the idol photos.
While fans are able to enjoy the cafe merchandise, the cafe is able to also garner more customers on such days since fans would go out of their way to visit these 'Birthday Cafes.'
However, at times, fans of more-unknown groups suffer and experience unfairness. One fan posted in an online community the sorrows fans of unpopular groups have to go through. On the post, the netizen posted a phone message conversation.
According to the conversation, one fan was inquiring about opening a 'Birthday cafe' on March 12, 2022, and messaged the cafe. The fan wrote, "Hello! I want to inquire about the 'Birthday Cafe'! Is it possible to open it for two days on March 12 and 13, 2022?"
The cafe soon responded with, "Yes hello! Space rental for those dates are available, Who is are the artist you want to hold this for?" The fan responded, "Rocket Punch's Suyun!" The cafe did not respond for about ten minutes then responded back, "Oh sorry :( there is another artist event planned for those dates."
The cafe that initially stated that the space is available for those dates soon changed their statement and explained that the space is unavailable after hearing for which artist the event was for.
Netizens who saw the message joined the online community to discuss this topic. While some stated they understood the cafe's position explaining that the cafe needs to also think about the benefits of holding the birthday cafe, other netizens criticized that the cafe already explained the space was available then changed their words.
Netizens commented, "For the cafe, a lot of fans need to come and buy their drinks and desserts for it to be worth having that event. So after hearing the name of the idol group, they figured it's not worth it because they won't sell more coffees than when just have their shop open to the public," "Still, they said that space was available but then changed their mind after hearing who it was. Wouldn't you be mad if the cafe owner changed their mind after hearing who the idol is?" "This is sad but the cafe still needs to make money. It would be a different story if the fandom paid for the entire day's wage of the cafe," and "That cafe owner was thinking for 10 minutes how to reject her request, lol."
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