On March 6, 2025, Coca-Cola unveiled its latest advertisement featuring the popular girl group NewJeans on their official Instagram account, @cocacolamy. Accompanying the advertisement was a press release that referred to the group as “NewJeans,”intentionally avoiding the abbreviation NJZ, thereby acknowledging the ongoing legal circumstances surrounding the group.
The marketing initiative includes a creative “laundromat”pop-up store event scheduled from March 12 to 15, 2025, in Malaysia. Developed in collaboration with WPP OpenX and led by Ogilvy Singapore, this initiative invites fans to upcycle old jeans into “new jeans”inscribed with personalized messages from NewJeans members.
Participants can bring their old denim to the Metropolitan Dobi Express in Kuala Lumpur, where they can transform their jeans into new styles by presenting six Coca-Cola bottle caps. In exchange for these caps, attendees will receive exclusive Coke x NewJeans patches to enhance their customized jeans. Alternatively, fans can purchase six Coca-Cola bottles at the venue to earn their patches.
The pop-up event will also feature photobooths for fan interactions and showcases of interactive videos featuring NewJeans that can be accessed by scanning RFID patches at the venue. Fans interested in attending can find registration details on Coca-Cola’s official website: www.coca-cola.com.
This promotional campaign comes amidst a backdrop of ongoing legal disputes between NewJeans and their former agency, ADOR, regarding contractual issues, stirring considerable chatter online regarding the complexities of the group’s artistic ventures alongside their legal challenges.
The release of Coca-Cola’s advertisement prompted varied reactions on social media. Some users speculated that the ad was shot prior to the disputes, while others suggested it might have been one of the last projects for the group under the ADOR label before the legal fallout.
One user on X remarked:
“I’m pretty sure this is from their old contract with ADOR, tbh..”
Other comments included:
“Could it be that writing ‘New’ separated from ‘Jeans’ does not create any legal issues? I recall an old post stating that HYBE NEVER copyrighted ‘New Jeans’ (as two words),”a fan mused.
“They definitely put New Jeans on purpose; love it,”wrote another fan.
“Didn’t Coca-Cola send NJZ a bouquet of flowers after they terminated their contracts with ADOR/HYBE? We love brands that continue to support NJZ,”said a third user.
“Ohhh serious question: are they allowed to do that? Use ‘New Jeans’ (two words)? Haha, I genuinely don’t know. And no NJZ mentioned anywhere? Or is this still about the ADOR contract?”a fan questioned.
“Oh that’s so indirect: ‘not’ mentioning their group, ‘old jeans to new jeans’,”commented another user.
“Technically, Coca-Cola didn’t call them ‘NewJeans’; they referred to them by their first names. So a win is a win!”asserted a fan.
The ADOR vs. NewJeans (NJZ) Saga: A Timeline of Events
The conflict involving NewJeans and their former agency, ADOR, can be traced back to April 2024. Tensions within HYBE Corporation, ADOR’s parent company, surfaced when Min Hee-jin, the executive producer of NewJeans, was accused by HYBE executives of attempting to seize full control over ADOR and the girl group.
Min Hee-jin retaliated by alleging that NJZ was facing unfair competition from other girl groups under the HYBE umbrella, which led to her dismissal as CEO of ADOR on August 27, 2024.
In an unusual step for the K-pop industry, NJZ members publicly supported Min Hee-jin on September 11, 2024, during an unplanned YouTube livestream. They voiced concerns about management practices at HYBE, including incidents of workplace harassment and unauthorized sharing of private information.
The group issued an ultimatum to HYBE chairman Bang Si-Hyuk, demanding the reinstatement of Min Hee-jin by September 25, but HYBE dismissed this request, citing its policy to separate production from management, while assuring that Min Hee-jin would still serve as the group’s producer.
The situation intensified when NJZ’s member Hanni testified before South Korea’s National Assembly Environment and Labor Committee on October 15, 2024, outlining harassment risks in the workplace and the need for protections for performers in the entertainment sector.
An internal document from HYBE was exposed during the National Assembly Audit on October 24, revealing plans to marginalize NewJeans, a revelation that exacerbated the ongoing tensions. On November 13, NJZ announced that HYBE had refused to reintegrate Min Hee-jin as CEO of ADOR, issuing another ultimatum with a deadline of November 28 to meet their demands or risk terminating their exclusive contracts.
On November 28, NJZ disclosed their decision to terminate the contracts with ADOR, which the agency contested by affirming that the members remained bound to their contractual obligations.
In December 2024, the group launched a new Instagram account, “jeanzforfree,”signaling a shift towards independent artistic pursuits. By February 2025, they revealed their new name, “NJZ,”and are set to headline the Hong Kong music festival ComplexCon on March 23, 2025, under this new branding.
On March 7, 2025, the Seoul Central District Court convened its first hearing regarding ADOR’s injunction, which aims to prevent NewJeans from collaborating with advertisers without the agency’s approval. The court has mandated that the girl group restructure and submit their reasons for terminating their contracts with ADOR by March 14, 2025.