Prestigious University Provides Practical Experience Promoting Leading K-Pop Group, Faces Harsh Criticism
(G)I-DLE is facing backlash over a new USC university class designed to promote the group in the US.
Starting Spring 2026, the University of Southern California will offer an elective focused solely on marketing (G)I-DLE (now called i-dle). It’s the first 4th gen K-pop group to be the main subject of a US college course.
The class won’t be just theory. Students will work with industry pros to promote i-dle in the US market. The course covers fan engagement, market research, brand partnerships, and digital strategy. Students create real marketing work — treating i-dle as a live case study.
But fans and netizens are worried. Many say this feels like unpaid labor, where students pay tuition to work on promotional material for Cube Entertainment for free.
The controversy began on Twitter soon after news broke. One user wrote:
am i took woke or does this seem shady as hell from their company to use college students’ work as free promotion instead of paying people…. like i get this a huge opportunity but these students deserve to get paid to do all this instead of having them pay to take the class
— seonghwa
Another tweet added:
wow cube is so useless they’re making students pay to do work that should be done by paid employees
— rebecca 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ 𐀔
Some say it’s basically an unpaid internship disguised as a class.
this is just an unpaid uncredited internship…
— aaron!
USC recently also announced a G-Dragon lecture course, showing growing K-pop interest in American college programs.
As the situation develops, Cube Entertainment has yet to respond to the criticism over this setup.
More updates to come.