Jennie-wannabe Song Ji-ah’s bad branding, rose to stardom through “Single’s Inferno” but is back to inferno now

Is it time for Song Ji-ah to verify herself to become a celebrity? Beauty YouTuber Song Ji-ah (FreeZia) is suffering from negative rumors a month after gaining popularity.    

Starting with the question of whether she is really from a rich family or not, controversy over sexualizing school uniforms and the fake fashion brand items are surrounding Song Ji-ah. This all happened in just a month.

Song Ji-ah began to gain popularity after Netflix’s original “Single’s Inferno” was released. Song Ji-ah caught the eyes of viewers around the world as well as the male cast of “Single’s Inferno” with her remarkably extravagant beauty and honest charm. She holds the bold and honest charms of Generation Z and quickly emerged as a wannabe icon among young people.

Her popularity is immediately reflected in numbers. Song Ji-ah‘s Instagram followers have surpassed 1 million, and her YouTube subscribers are on the verge of 2 million. Song Ji-ah‘s popularity can be clearly seen from the facts that she had had under 1 million YouTube subscribers before the release of “Single’s Inferno” and that her Q&A video commemorating 1 million subscribers has exceeded 1.6 million views.

Song Ji-ah‘s popularity soared as she has the combination of visuals and personality that targeted Generation Z’s taste, the popularity from “Single’s Inferno,” and YouTube content reminiscent of a lady coming from a rich family. This led to her being cast by many broadcasters, and Song Ji-ah proved her popularity by appearing on MBC and JTBC’s leading entertainment programs such as “Omniscient Interfering View” and “Knowing Bros.”

However, Song Ji-ah‘s “fantasy” is breaking down in less than a month. Those who have paid attention to Song Ji-ah since “Single’s Inferno” raised questions one by one, and as the question turned out to be true, the brand of “FreeZia” and “Song Ji-ah” are collapsing.

First of all, the school uniform she wore during her appearance at “Knowing Bros” has become controversial. Some pointed out that the way she reformed her school uniform might be seen as sexualizing it.

Subsequently, a “fake brand item controversy” was raised, which turned out to be true. Freesia posted on her Instagram on Jan 17th, saying, “There is a controversy over some of the clothes I wore on SNS and “Single’s Inferno.” The fake items you pointed out are partly true. I’m so sorry,” she said adding, “I apologize once again for all the situations caused by my infringement of designers’ creative works and copyrights ignorance. As a person who dreams of launching my own brand, I will seriously recognize and reflect on the controversy this time,” she apologized.

The public feels betrayed and disappointed because Song Ji-ah is not just a normal person who suddenly becomes a celebrity overnight. She has already been in an agency, has been invited to various beauty events, and is working as a model. In particular, it is absurd to many that she was ignorant of copyright law as she has publicly expressed her desire to launch a fashion brand.

As the “fake clothing” controversy turns out to be true, Song Ji-ah‘s “rich family background” is also being suspected. Although the criteria for rich families are relatively different, Song Ji-ah has been said to have grown up in a rich family, and her main content is to show off luxury goods, due to which many of her subscribers see her as their role model. However, the fact that she has been “cheating” with fake products and introducing them proudly is bound to be a fatal blow for both Song Ji-ah herself and her brand as YouTuber FreeZia. Through the controversy, many are questioning that Song Ji-ah may have been well-branded as “the daughter of a rich family” by her agency.

Song Ji-ah is standing at a crossroads. Her identity has been shaken by the “fake brand controversy.” Instead of dreaming of being the next Jennie, Song Ji-ah should now stand in front of the public with her own charm. Whether she will appear in public as a well-branded “FreeZia” by her agency or a real, sincere wannabe icon “Song Ji-ah” depends on her future move.