O Sehun Also Joins "NewJeans Hype Boyyo"... What's This Meme About?

NewJeans Joins Meme Trend Following Appointment as Seoul City Public Ambassadors

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] "Mayor, where are you going now?" "To NewJeans' Hype Boy."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is drawing attention by showcasing a meme of the popular girl group NewJeans. A meme refers to a trend such as funny photos, videos, or catchphrases shared online.

As of 3:30 PM on the 17th, Mayor Oh's video recorded about 74,000 views on Instagram Reels, attracting interest. In the video, Mayor Oh walks down a hallway listening to music with AirPods in his ears. When asked, "Mayor, where are you going now?" he replies, "To NewJeans' Hype Boy," then continues on his way.

On the 16th, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon posted a video parodying a meme of the popular girl group NewJeans on Instagram. [Image source=Captured from Mayor Oh's Instagram]

The meme Mayor Oh imitated became popular on platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels. As content asking passersby "What song are you listening to?" became a trend, the NewJeans meme also started. When someone asks for directions or where you are going, you respond unexpectedly with "To NewJeans' Hype Boy," then pass by while performing NewJeans' signature choreography.

Recently, NewJeans was appointed as Seoul city ambassadors along with actor Noh Joo-hyun and singer Lee Seok-hoon. It appears Mayor Oh joined the meme parody to promote Seoul city. Additionally, Mayor Oh posted a video on his Instagram from the appointment ceremony where he performed the 'diamond heart' gesture popular among NewJeans fans together with NewJeans.

Political figures using memes have the advantage of presenting a pleasant and approachable image to the public. Mayor Oh's parody video gaining attention on social networking services (SNS) like Twitter seems to have precisely targeted this point.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the 20th presidential election, several candidates also used memes as promotional tools. In August 2021, when the party primary was intense ahead of the presidential election, then-candidate Yoon Seok-youl used a meme about the likes and dislikes of mint chocolate-flavored food to claim himself as part of the 'Mincho-dan' (people who like mint chocolate).

Then-candidate Hong Joon-pyo also pushed new terms like 'MuyaHong' (Unconditionally the opposition candidate is Hong Joon-pyo) and 'MuDaeHong' (Unconditionally the president is Hong Joon-pyo) by parodying the catchphrase 'MuyaHo' that became popular from an old episode of the MBC variety show 'Infinite Challenge.'

Former Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, who entered the Democratic Party primary, released a TikTok video in June of the same year with a concept of changing outfits such as Harry Potter costumes, leather jackets, and cowboy attire.

However, meme politics also has its downsides like two sides of a coin. It is difficult to gain empathy and favor unless one is a young person well-versed in online memes, and it can be criticized for focusing only on image politics without serious discussion on policies.

If the understanding of memes is low and the parody is clumsy, it can appear insincere or even provoke backlash. Meme politics, which attempts to communicate with young people, can become a self-defeating endeavor.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.