The merch design has sparked outrage and concern.
Koreaboo
11 minutes ago
ZEROBASEONE‘s latest merchandise drop has sparked a lot of conversation online, and not in a good way.
| Wake One
Among the new items is a jewelry tray set that comes with a small silver hand sculpture modeled after the actual hands of individual members. The holders are member-specific, with each idol having their own personal one.
| Wake One
The now-controversial hand sits upright on an oval metallic tray, designed to hold rings or other small accessories.
| Wake One
The concept itself isn’t entirely new in K-pop, with SHINee’s Taemin having previously released a similar item.
However, fans of ZEROBASEONE are pushing back against it.
i genuinely think it’s not a good idea this jewelry tray designed literally as the member real hands being sells as md
wk1 have u out of ur mind?💀 pic.twitter.com/KBchjRSFhW
— cis 𐔌՞. .՞𐦯 (@haotieful) May 25, 2026
The main concern is that body part replicas, however well-intentioned, are easy to misuse. Many fans feel the item is an open invitation for explicit behavior, with some already cracking “inappropriate” jokes on X (formerly Twitter).
me with jiwoong’s https://t.co/M4Cb5Wte0o pic.twitter.com/RMJYAnv3X8
— َ (@nnike) May 25, 2026
yeah somebody is definitely gonna put that up their ass who’s idea was that https://t.co/kTaTHxhe6s
— gendery⁺¹ 🐈⬛ (@pochacochip) May 25, 2026
https://t.co/5mYsf0nHBO pic.twitter.com/JcYhWM5aDz
— Cornelius Mcdinkleworth Jr. the 5th (@dinkle127) May 25, 2026
Photobooks, lightsticks, plushies, and branded clothing are all standard. Casts of members’ body parts, even something as relatively tame as a hand, seem to sit in a different category for a lot of fans.
Let’s 👏🏽 not 👏🏽 make 👏🏽 any 👏🏽 merch 👏🏽 resembling 👏🏽 members’ 👏🏽 body 👏🏽 parts OMG THIS IS SO BASIC
— Mili (@milijustwhy) May 25, 2026
no cause it can be so bad. This is basically encouraging certain delulu fans.
— ricky’s anus sucker (@gyubrik4life) May 25, 2026
I just know these won’t be used for the intended purpose
— Monoki chan (@monokichan) May 25, 2026
While fan outrage is increasing, the group’s management has not commented publicly on the backlash so far.