K-pop, or just “Kpop” if you feel life is too short to hyphenate, is full of striking images and symbols. The visuals are often intense to match the energy of the music itself. Yet there is one particular visual in the world of Kpop that has garnered a lot of attention even from people who don’t usually listen to the music, and they want to know what it is. People are wondering what the Kpop bunny mascot is, why it is both cute and really creepy all at once, and which group it belongs to — so here is the full answer!
The Kpop Bunny Mascot Is the Mascot of NewJeans
NewJeans is a massively successful Kpop girl group that debuted at the ADOR label under HYBE in July 2022, and at the time of their debut, their promotions used a lot of retro ’90s visuals and Y2K imagery. But the visual that sticks out the most is the bunny mascot that appears repeatedly in various places on NewJeans music releases — in fact, the digital covers of the EP New Jeans, the single “Ditto,” and the single album OMG all use different-colored versions of the same Kpop bunny! You can see them below.
Personally, I think the bunny is adorable, if perhaps a bit mischievous. However, others find this mascot creepy and/or terrifying, maybe even being a psycho killer who will dance over your grave. Video game enthusiasts might compare its dead-eyed stare to the mechanical monstrosities of the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise. This bunny is almost like its own weird Rorschach test in how it’s open to interpretation! However, the truth might be that ADOR intended for this Kpop bunny mascot to be both cute and creepy — since unpredictability is exciting.
Additionally, the official name of the NewJeans fandom is “Bunnies,” meaning that all fans of the group call themselves Bunnies. Someone unfamiliar with Kpop might think it’s odd for a fandom to have an official name, but it’s actually an extremely common practice in the industry, used to create a bond between the groups and the fans. For example, the BTS fandom is called Army, the Twice fandom is called Once, and the Itzy fandom is called Midzy.
So, regardless of whether you think the Kpop bunny mascot is adorable or horrifying, it is here to stay as the mascot of NewJeans — and to be loved and feared in equal proportions.
