The 'MZ wannabe icon' IVE (Ahn Yujin, Gaeul, RAY, Jang Wonyoung, Liz, Lee Seo) is continuing its popularity with the new song 'ATTITUDE' challenge.
IVE recently completed its comeback activities for its third mini album 'IVE EMPATHY.' They successfully finished their activities after achieving meaningful results across various metrics from digital music to albums and music broadcasts, while the new title track 'ATTITUDE's 'guinea pig challenge' has ignited a surge of interest globally on short video platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.
The 'guinea pig' part refers to the segment where RAY and the members showcase a time-lag choreography to the chorus of 'ATTITUDE.' The members, presenting a cute visual while vigorously waving their arms, have garnered attention on social media, earning the nickname as they resemble 'racing guinea pigs.'
Initially, there were no related hashtags for this segment; however, thanks to enthusiastic responses from K-pop fans, IVE started actively conducting the challenge using the hashtags '#guineapig' and '#guineapigchallenge.' IVE launched their participation with RAY, known as 'the leader guinea pig,' kicking off the segment, and posted a variety of challenge videos, providing diverse fun with witty comments such as 'emotional guinea pig,' 'get out of the way, guinea pig!', 'strawberry guinea pig?', and 'the racing guinea pig and the renowned singer.'
Among them, RAY's performance as 'the leader guinea pig' captures attention. RAY, who has created numerous trends such as 'Ribbon Piece' and 'Kongsuni Pose' in the past, once again led the popularity of the 'guinea pig' challenge by showcasing it in various locations like parks, offices, and elevators.
In particular, RAY's spoiler video for the 'guinea pig' choreography published on the day of the comeback and last December recorded 26.5 million views and 12.1 million views (as of the 9th), respectively, collectively surpassing 38.6 million views, thoroughly proving RAY's status as an 'all-time trendsetter' capable of making anything a trend.
'ATTITUDE,' which has garnered attention as 'guinea pig,' is a song conveying that the only thing one can change in unchanging situations is their own attitude, reflecting IVE's mindset of cheerfully accepting circumstances. Although the activities for 'ATTITUDE' concluded after the SBS 'Inkigayo' stage in February, RAY and IVE's 'guinea pig' challenge has been spreading across various social media, with many fans requesting the challenge to see their favorite artist's cute sides, leading to continuous participation from fellow artists.
In addition, senior and junior groups from the agency Starship Entertainment, including Monsta X, Cravity, Kiki, as well as Super Junior, SHINee, Zerobaseone, NCT WISH, Tours, BOYNEXTDOOR, Le Sserafim, Red Velvet, Lee Young-ji, StayC, Chu, Xdinary Heroes, Hwihb, 82Major, Banner, Izna, and Yuda-bin Band, among others, have joined in to create a dazzling lineup. Starship's 'debut preparation group' New Kids also contributed to the challenge by posting a challenge video on the 28th of last month. They brought laughter to fans by adding comments using their own nicknames such as 'racing honey,' 'racing guinea (tongue) pig,' and 'racing wish' along with 'the racing spring guinea pig and racing minnow cat.'
Moreover, proving the term 'the children's president,' popular characters like Bellygom, Jamangloopy, and the animation 'Catch! Teenieping' characters have also joined the challenge, creating a persistent wave of 'guinea pig' enthusiasm between K-pop artists and fans through fan signings, fan meetings, and more. Among fans, the phenomenon of 'racing OO' and 'OO guinea pig' has even emerged as 'memeification,' focusing public attention on the 'guinea pig' syndrome that is hitting the challenge market.
Meanwhile, IVE will hold a fan concert tour '2025 IVE Fan Concert 'IVE Scout' in Japan' starting in Nagoya on the 12th and 13th. RAY is meeting with fans through a weekly solo web entertainment program, 'Try it, RAY,' and will also serve as an MC at the 'Asia Star Entertainer Awards 2025' scheduled to take place in Yokohama, Japan, in May.
[OSEN]