TK's Take on Love Your W 2025

Full Disclosure

This post is my reply to a few dozen sincere inquiries regarding my thoughts on this whole situation - asked by thoughtful ARMY (NOT internet trolls out to start drama).

I should also say up front, ***my (or any individual) opinion is not important to the landscape of the real work** [raising awareness and funds for those impacted by breast cancer] - so NEVER let my (or anyone else's) opinions distract you from caring about - supporting - and advocating for what ACTUALLY matters.

Sources cited at the end - but please understand, ALL of the following is filtered through my perspective.

TL;DR

This could have & should have been done better by WKorea. But galas as a method of fundraising overall are kinda...excessive. STILL - people who don't know shit about anything should stop asserting opinions as facts. Wanting to hold idols accountable is NOT a bad thing. Publicly, dramatically, and incoherently shitting on/denouncing a whole group/fandom over something - even if it was a big disappointment - speaks more to your desire for virtue signaling than your commitment to enacting any sort of REAL change for the better. Either way, I hope you're always met with the same respect you've demonstrated. If you're heated about something, take efforts to be part of a solution or take a seat.

FIRST - let's start where it makes the most sense to start: are galas an effective fundraising solution for important causes OR an extravagant show of nonsense?

The tragic answer is - BIG SIGH - they're both.

Oversimplified Breakdown

The problem they're trying to address:
The org/group/cause needs (1) human and (2) financial resources to address the problem of XYZ (in this case, raising funds/awareness for breast cancer solutions)

The solution:

• (human) relevant people/orgs are connected in ways that beget further synergy to work more efficiently towards solutions
• (human) upcoming relevant innovative technologies, programs, services are highlighted for promotion and cooperation
• (human) relevant people/orgs that have done tremendous work towards obtaining a solution are recognized, supported (thereby increasing their impact/power/reach to do more good)
• (financial) money is raised

Do galas accomplish those things? Well-executed ones absolutely do.

Did this year's WKorea: Love Your W Event accomplish those things? Bruh, I don't know. You and I don't have access to that information. BUT - based on the fact that they've held this event for TWENTY YEARS successfully, it would be reasonable to assume yes. For argument's sake, for now, let's say certainly, yes.

BUT EVEN IF yes, did they host a thoughtful, compassionate gala?
...in my opinion? nope.

I've seen many aspects of galas. I've had roles in helping plan fancy galas, volunteering to work at galas for a cause I fiercely support [ending modern slavery, bridging the digital divide, & more], and have had the privilege of being invited to a few galas as a guest.

But at SOME of them, there comes this moment - that despite the hard work that it took to bring it about, despite the dozens/hundreds of key players doing incredible work that turn up, despite how cute I look in the outfit I squeezed into trying to hang at such a fancy event - where I think ...why the f did we need all of this?

TURNS OUT, to get the players with the most money and power to care - there has to be something in it for them. MOST (if not all) GALAS [not just WKorea's Love Your W] are SIMULTANEOUSLY [see above] a (1) meaningful space for connections, (2) a means of raising awareness and support, and (3) an opportunity for the BIGGEST financial contributors to flex their 'goodness' or 'generosity.'

Re: BTS Making an Appearance

For the ridiculous people saying "they never should have made an appearance at all! 😠" . . ...please consider this:

Practically.. this is how that would have transpired... 🧐
1. BTS is invited to the ANNUAL (20YEAR RECORD) WKorea event raising funds and awareness for breast cancer

2. WITHOUT advanced knowledge of how poorly it might be executed, they reject the invitation knowing that they [BTS] are one of THE most iconic, globally reputable groups in the world that COULD generate so much media buzz and funds raised for the cause... (what if the event had been tastefully executed? Something they'd have NO way of predicting.........)

3. SO then they don't go at all. They'd DEFINITELY be singled out for not having attended such an important event...

Like.. am in crazy town? This is so obvious?! I don't understand how anyone thoughtful could assert that. AKA only dummies are saying this loll

Re: WKorea's Clips of Celebrities

[smol detour into social media marketing, bear with me if you're one of the people that asked me about this lol]

I've been in social media/digital marketing for over a decade now.

FACTS RE SOCIAL MEDIA:
You know what does NOT make exciting content for posting SNIPPETS to be consumed by the general public's ever-diminishing attention spans that HAS to be designed for re-post/shareability?

• Celebrities, sitting down, staring in one direction, listening to a presentation for a while
• A presenter, that likely no one in the general public recognizes, sharing data/stats

What COULD have been helpful with still a lot of potential for virality?

• Celebrities sharing facts (even ones pre-researched and scripted by WKorea and shown or READ OFF CUE CARDS) to promote awareness (# of women impacted, budget spent, reach of WKorea's previously successful campaigns, needs of patients/survivors/supporters of those impacted by breast cancer) maybe PUNCTUATED BY some fun stuff (dance challenges, random kpop questions/typical interview stuff)
• A thoughtfully curated series of entertainers featuring artists that had songs, work, ties to the breast cancer community in SOME way

I have NO idea if any/all of these things were done and just not filmed or legit skipped entirely and they all just went straight into party mode. But the point is that no one knows (except the people that attended). Don't waste time speculating. The event is over.

Even if WKorea, hypothetically, had actually hosted an otherwise thoughtful program that evening and only posted the partytime vibes, then - they screwed up by not sharing any of the more meaningful components of that gala.

They shared NOTHING about breast cancer at all. In fact, if I didn't know from past events already that this had something to do with breast cancer awareness - I would NEVER have been able to guess what was being highlighted. As someone that has been impacted by losing loved ones to cancer (although not breast cancer), it was disappointing to see that there was HARDLY any relevant info shared.

See the testimony of this individual that has been impacted by breast cancer share her thoughts on the event. This clip has NO affiliation to me, all credit goes to original creator. This is a direct feature of her post.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by jiwon han 🤍 (@j1w0nhan)

WKorea messed up. They posted the following (translated at the link):

Re: BTS Appearing to Have a Great Time

IF WKorea had done a MUCH more thorough job promoting breast cancer awareness AND had posted all the same party bits (as in all the clips/snippets we saw of all the different celebrities partying together, dancing, doing challenges, taking photos, enjoying themselves, etc.) - would that have been a bad call?

In my personal/professional opinion, no.

BECAUSE as far as galas go - that would have signaled that this gala is an event NOT to be missed - it would have created FOMO for other large donors and people of influence to prioritize their future attendance - thereby securing ongoing financial and media support.

From the event host's perspective? The BEST outcome is to see that your goals are being met and that your invited guests are having a great time.

If I'm invited to an event and there are set performances for guests to enjoy, I will try to enjoy the performances, I will eat the food they serve, I will try to mingle with the other guests, asked/prompted by the HOST organization?! I will answer questions, I would do a dance challenge [no one would care about me doing one but you get it right?]. I will likely have a great time! And that would NOT have been my fault. That is being a gracious and helpful participant/guest. I believe BTS (and all other invited guests) were enjoying their time as guests.

As ONE guest, please remember - I likely wouldn't know WHAT ELSE is being filmed for social media fodder (especially from an organization that has kept doing what they've been doing for a while now)... I'd trust they knew what they were doing. I honestly wouldn't think about this at all...

GALAS might be the drama.

Now ALLLLLLLLL of that said, I think these fancy ass GALAS are problematic - because it implies a more disturbing issue. It's a model of fundraising that, taken to the extremes - especially now in late stage capitalism, not only allows but ...enables? ...normalizes?... and excuses the worst parts of our consumeristic nature.

Like so many things - I think what started out a great concept for accomplishing MANY things at once with a well-timed event.. essentially like...

we really believe in our cause but without infinite event budget, let's pour a decent amount of our fundraising budget to host 1-2 epic event(s) per year, we spend up to about 30% of what we anticipate we'd raise, to craft an evening centered around XYZ cause, connect the key players involved in its solution, feature relevant artists as entertainment, offer food because it'll likely have to be hosted in the evening, and share critical ways to support the cause with human/financial resources

AWESOME, right?

but.. things shift... quietly over time..

...catering to the wealthiest players demanding more by way of entertainment or prestige/virality. "WE WANT TO BE THE MOST CONSUMED/TRENDY/BUZZWORTHY CONTENT-POTENT MOMENT" begins to eclipse "we want to fix XYZ." Then... because you can't afford to lose the big donations, you bend..bit by bit... until the plot is largely obscured... and sometimes lost entirely.

But fundraising, for anyone that's tried to do it in the past - for ANY worthy cause - is really difficult. The people with personal investments that already care - they ALREADY show up - already try... they're already giving what they can [time/talents/money]. You often need OUTSIDE funds/support to BOOST the work. So...you have to sell 'the experience' of giving. It's a disheartening but deeply pragmatic reality.

So then what.. idols are just all off the hook?

No.

But hating on individual guests for showing up to a historically successful event? Asinine, unproductive troll behavior. Eyerolls and middle fingers for all.

What responsibility do INVITED guests have to hold the host organization accountable? I don't think the answer is nothing. But let's think about it a litttttlee bit...

If there were tons of fun bits in the programming, honestly? I (as a guest) would just assume a more meaningful portion is coming. If after the evening was through and actually nothing relevant had been mentioned - YES, I'd find that uncomfortable and disappointing. WHAT WOULD I DO NEXT???

Depending on the other demands on my life, perhaps I would carve out time to personally reach out to the host organization and demand they do it differently or state a complaint. I likely would not quickly or simply or easily publicly post about it (and YES - I'm not a celebrity so no one would care if I did lmao.) But EVEN if I was famous... I'd want to consider what is the most EFFECTIVE way to beget a change in the way the event was conducted? Calling out the whole host org online? Maybe. Or perhaps connecting with the right individuals to make my concerns known? Maybe.

ALTERNATIVELY, I'd likely ALSO have lots of other spinning plates to tend to~

On the list of top priorities, including other causes I'm already deeply personally invested in - I may or may NOT find it worthwhile to specifically call out this organization retroactively. Depends on LOTS of things!!

My point - you/we just have no idea what their/ANYONE else's life looks like.

It's one thing to call out your faves hoping or asking them to do something in a PROPORTIONATE and REASONABLE way THROUGH A VEHICLE that makes sense!

It's another thing to publicly trash/cancel a whole fandom/group/person based off one episode with such small SNIPPETS of the big picture.

The first is about enacting change in ways you can.
The second is about VIRTUE SIGNALING and be so fr... another flash of abs and you're back on board you shallow vapid troll. If you threw out the whole group, you better not be in the queue for tickets. 😑🤣

(I am certain my readers are not among the shallow vapid trolls though~)

Cancel Culture & Virtue Signaling

Cancel culture is SUCH a powerful tool 🙌🏻✨✨✨
The average joe can hold formerly untouchable Goliaths at bay with a phone. Truly heinous predators, lifelong unchecked racists endangering vulnerable bipoc lives, etc. Wielding the judgment of the court of public opinion is a heftyyy responsibility.

But cancelling celebrities and individuals over isolated episodes that didn't go the way you thought it should... 🧐 without regard for context or an opportunity to demonstrate change...? We need to think about HOW best to wield 'cancellation' as a tool.

Re: BTS, given the SOLID backdrop of the integrity, growth, development, and intentionality they've demonstrated over the past TWELVE+ years, posting 'CANCEL BTS' speaks more to how much you prioritize virtue signaling OVER enacting any type of real change.

Re: individuals/fans that want to express their disappointment with their fave idols/groups - I think jumping to cancelling THAT person doesn't make sense either. People should be able to thoughtfully express their feelings without getting their head chopped off. If they were hurt, they were hurt. If they want better, they can want better.

Ask yourself 'am I more concerned with the [wrong] being addressed?' or 'am I more concerned to appear to be aligned with the majority opinion so I get my internet flowers for being so [some type of way]?'

Concluding Thoughts

If you don't know enough about something, before you publicly assert something hateful and ignorant - do some research. Quoting trolls is not research.

Don't waste time getting mad at people that will never grow enough to matter. Stress is bad for skin.

Concern yourself with ever becoming a more effective conduit for good than appearing to be on some winning side online.

Call a senator. Make a donation. Volunteer your time. Eat a donut. Go to sleep. Drink water. Fight crime.

Don't waste your PRECIOUS energy and attention to a distraction. That's how the wealthiest and most powerful people keep us distracted and separated from ever securing our own wealth and power. Your agency/time is your most valuable asset. Guard/wield/protect it fiercely and wisely.

I know this was super long but I don't like answering complex things with simple sentiments. If you stayed until the end, thank you and here's 20% off my entire shop.

Love you,
TK

Cited Sources

• Museum Study Blog @ Tufts University, Effective or Expensive?
  Likely authored by students/grad students credible within this domain but this is not a peer-reviewed article, just an informal blog
• Academic Article, Are Charity Galas Still Relevant?
• The Conversation, Let Them Eat Caviar
  A nonprofit, independent news organization that publishes articles written by academics and researches, often in collaboration with professional editors - they cover current events, research findings, and public interest topics
• Academic Article, Understanding Charity Fundraising Events