About a month ago, FNC Entertainment — home to K-Pop artists such as CNBLUE, SF9, Cherry Bullet, and P1Harmony — announced they would soon be debuting a new seven-member boy group.
The group includes the Boys Planet contestants Kamden, Brian, and Jiho, as well as Siyun, a former contestant on Treasure Box. The remaining three members are Kyrell, Mackiah, and Seungmo, and not much is known about any of them yet.
Kamden (AMPERS&ONE) | FNC Entertainment
The group, named AMPERS&ONE, is set to debut on November 15 with the single album AMPERSAND ONE. And in the days leading up to their debut, they started releasing teaser images on October 30.
앰퍼샌드원 (AMPERS&ONE)
1st Single Album [AMPERSAND ONE]
SCHEDULE ANNOUNCEMENT
➠ ALBUM RELEASE 2023.11.15 6PM (KST)#앰퍼샌드원 #AMPERSANDONE pic.twitter.com/19h815QZMB
— 앰퍼샌드원 (AMPERS&ONE) (@_AMPERSANDONE_) October 29, 2023
The individual teasers released of the members so far are pretty typical of K-Pop boy group teasers, showcasing their visuals and charms in their respective pictures.
앰퍼샌드원 (AMPERS&ONE)
1st Single Album [AMPERSAND ONE]
Concept Photo #2 JIHO (Sweet & Sour ver.)
➠ ALBUM RELEASE 2023.11.15 6PM (KST)#앰퍼샌드원 #AMPERSANDONE #최지호 #JIHO pic.twitter.com/Tqnijgb7E8
— 앰퍼샌드원 (AMPERS&ONE) (@_AMPERSANDONE_) October 30, 2023
앰퍼샌드원 (AMPERS&ONE)
1st Single Album [AMPERSAND ONE]
Concept Photo #2 BRIAN (Sweet & Sour ver.)
➠ ALBUM RELEASE 2023.11.15 6PM (KST)#앰퍼샌드원 #AMPERSANDONE #브라이언 #BRIAN pic.twitter.com/MoTCtZVWwI
— 앰퍼샌드원 (AMPERS&ONE) (@_AMPERSANDONE_) October 30, 2023
However, it’s the first group photos of the members that has netizens criticizing AMPERS&ONE’s design team, due to the heavily photoshopped nature of the images.
There have been two group pictures shared so far, and the aesthetic of them is much different than the individual member photos.
The saturation on the pictures seems to be turned up to maximum, and the members’ faces appear heavily edited as well, much to the displeasure of fans.
The two pictures were shared on an online forum post, where there was a lot of criticism in the comments from a majority of people. Netizens are also upset at FNC Entertainment in general for debuting a new boy group rather than focusing on the artists that they already have.
On Twitter, though, fans have been sharing their excitement for the debut of these trainees!
My precious https://t.co/EZfoMeYgYD
— Emma Be kind! It costs nothing (@Emma_Jimin13) October 28, 2023
Omg they are all so damn cute I can feel myself getting obsessed already… https://t.co/tZozIQYSUm
— paiges.fanxstagram (@AlvosPaige) October 28, 2023
wait. they look so family https://t.co/SKkBoLrtog pic.twitter.com/OcfFHY2Lm1
— ten (@kamdentofu) October 28, 2023
Aww these cuties. I’m excited for them. https://t.co/C1F4TsZlLN
— 𝓙𝓪zz樂✰ Happy Halloween (@Jtaegikook2) October 28, 2023
theyre BEAUTFULLKL https://t.co/CdyrD4Tp4s
— drea ✧ | kammy debut !!🦭 (@nkamdy_) October 28, 2023
With former Boys Planet members, hopefully AMPERS&ONE will get some publicity to help them draw attention for their debut. But only time will tell how well FNC Entertainment manages and markets them!
“It’s giving Wanna One’s 2017 debut album… but not… in a good way…”
