Girls generation reunited after five years to release their seventh album, forever 1and to celebrate its 15th anniversary.
Alongside their album release, they filmed a new music video for their title track “FOREVER 1” and will appear on a music show together for the first time in five years.
The “FOREVER 1” music video was filled with heartwarming tributes to Girls’ Generation’s 15-year history and references what members have done in their individual activities over the past five years.
In the opening scene of the music video, the members stand on a colorful float with a logo celebrating their 15th anniversary behind them.
The logo was recently discovered to have been plagiarized from Tokyo DisneySea’s 15th anniversary logo, which celebrates the year of wishes from 2016 to 2017.
When images comparing the two logos began circulating, the director of Girls’ Generation’s “FOREVER 1” music video, Shinhee wonShe came forward with an apology for wearing the design and an apology to the members of Girls’ Generation for causing controversy.
In his apology, he admitted to using the design without double-checking the source after finding several reference designs to use for the logo. He took responsibility for planning, directing and designing the music video details and promised to be more careful in the future.
Hi, I’m Shin Hee Won. I directed the clip for “Forever 1” from Girls’ Generation. First of all, I would like to apologize to the members of Girls’ Generation as well as SM Entertainment for causing this controversy over one of the sets used in the “Forever 1” music video. Ever since I was contacted about the music video, I’ve been involved not only in planning and directing, but also in the design details, like choosing props. I am terribly ashamed of myself and I regret having ended up plagiarizing. When creating the set for the band’s 15th anniversary fashion show, I looked for inspirations for the design of the numbered logo. I found several references, and when I found an image that suited me, I decided to use it without rechecking the source. Today I learned that the design belongs to Disney Japan’s 15th anniversary logo. And I sincerely apologize for using the design without further investigating its copyright or seeking permission to reference it. In the future, I’ll do better research and be more vigilant when producing and directing so that something like this never happens again. Finally, I apologize again for causing this problem to Girls’ Generation, SM Entertainment and the girl group fans who have seen the MV.
—Director Shin Hee Won
Right now, sm entertainment did not comment on it.