Cortis launches 'Put Your Phone Down' tour, sparks fan debate
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- Cortis launched their global 'Put Your Phone Down' tour in Incheon on 18 July, using the slogan to encourage fans to experience concerts without filming through phones
- Cortis repeated on-stage commands to 'put your phone down' during both nights of their debut concerts, though fans report the band softened the message on the second night by acknowledging filming motivations
- Park Ji-yeon, a 22-year-old fan, rented a high-end smartphone specifically to record the concert in top quality, saying she couldn’t risk losing irreplaceable memories despite the band’s requests
- Kim Ga-eun, a 25-year-old concertgoer, observed that some fans heeded the call and danced together in the standing section, reflecting what she saw as the spirit behind the tour’s theme
- BigHit Music, the label behind Cortis, promotes the group’s name—derived from 'colour outside the lines'—as emblematic of nonconformity, extending to challenging fan norms around phone use at shows
Why it matters: Cortis’s stance disrupts a core practice in K-pop fandom—fancam creation—which fans like Park Ji-yeon treat as essential memory preservation after spending hundreds of dollars on tickets and travel. By asking fans to forgo filming, the band risks alienating devotees who see recording as part of their investment, not just distraction.
