[talk] Businesses Using Fake AI Images of BTS to Promote Their Products

It's not just scammers — businesses have been caught using obviously AI-generated images of BTS to promote their products and services, and ARMY is furious. Earlier this year, a Las Vegas promoter ran ads featuring seven people who looked nothing like the actual BTS members. Fans were baffled, especially since high-quality official photos of the group are freely available. The issue flared up again in late April when a ticket reseller used a nightmare-fuel AI image of BTS to falsely legitimise a sale. ARMY has called out these businesses repeatedly, pointing out that using fake, distorted likenesses of real artists without consent is both disrespectful and potentially deceptive to people who don't know what BTS actually looks like. The pattern of AI misuse around this tour has become one of the most talked-about controversies of the Arirang era.