On Valentine's Day, BTS fans Yolanda Gaglio and her 95-year-old mother, Isabel, woke up at 4:30 am to drive from their home in Westminster to The Grove in Los Angeles. They had heard through X/Twitter that something was going down on Valentine's Day related to the global superstars group.
The two arrived at 6:30 am, and were 18th and 19th in line, surrounded by their fellow ARMY - the name for the BTS fans - waiting near a blocked off, covered rose flower wall. Wrapped in a blanket with images of Jung Kook and wearing a V headband, Isabel Gaglio waited patiently, excited to participate in this potential Valentine's Day surprise from her favorite group.
"I enjoy seeing all the displays, talking to people, and meeting up with new ones and getting a flower from my [BTS] bias," says Isabel Gaglio, who is a great-grandmother and has a popular social media presence.
Less than 24 hours ago, Seoul (COEX) and London (Covent Garden) revealed rose flower walls in their cities, offering free roses for everyone. With each flower picked, it was then wrapped, with a card attached with the phrase: "MY LOVE SONG IS ( )" and a QR code attached, which led to BTS's ARIRANG website for people to make their own social banners with their name, artist, and favorite love song. By the end of the day, when all the flowers were picked, the phrase "WHAT IS YOUR LOVE SONG?" was shown with the group's name underneath it.
Dessy Tan, a nurse from the Los Angeles area, first learned about The Grove's BTS rose wall on X/Twitter. As an active member of "ARMY Twitter," Tan saw Seoul and London's rose wall, then a now-deleted post by The Grove announcing the "ROSES FROM BTS" event. She asked her 15,000 followers whether they had heard anything about it, and several confirmed they had seen construction at the shopping center the day before. She decided to check it out, arriving as the 28th person in line at 7:30am.
"If [The Grove] leaked the information, it might as well be true," she said after receiving her rose. "So I just took a leap of faith, and I got a rose."
The flower wall, covered in over 6,000 roses, was revealed around 10 am (activation began at 11 am), but by then, the line already had over 400 people. Each person in the morning got their moment with the rose wall. The BTS rose gift was offered on a first-come, first-served basis and was completely given out by 7 pm, with the campaign slogan in red lettering remaining and BTS below. The wording was lit up and available for fans to take photos until 10 pm.
The global campaign celebrated the message of BTS's anticipated fifth full-length album, ARIRANG, a deeply reflective body of work exploring their identity, roots, and love. With their strong feelings of love, BTS's "WHAT IS YOUR LOVE SONG?" offers everyone the chance to think about the songs that give them that same emotion.
Across Seoul, New York, London, and Los Angeles, signs, banners, light-up murals, and rose walls with the phrase, "What Is Your Love Song?" have popped up to celebrate the global superstar's comeback. While BTS hasn't confirmed what the slogan means or even if it is a song. But that hasn't stopped ARMY from participating in these campaigns.
The campaign will allow fans to leave their own "LOVE SONG" on the site until February 22. In BIGHIT MUSIC's press release, "'Love Song' is more than just a simple love song; it's a song that brings back memories for many people and provides them with comfort and strength. We hope that the question 'WHAT IS YOUR LOVE SONG?' will serve as an opportunity for everyone to recall the song within their hearts."
Days prior to BTS's reveal as the masterminds behind the campaign, the mysterious question covered the exterior walls of buildings near Seongsu Station. Posters of the same question were displayed on the large electronic billboard in Times Square, New York City, and around East Village, Soho, and Brooklyn. Light projections of the slogan span the exterior walls of Barnes & Noble in Union Square, New York City. In London, the signs were on the large LED screens at Waterloo Station and Bridge Station.
Spotify also released a "What Is Your Love Song?" EP with six tracks, centering on Love (Self-Love, Fandom Love, Romantic Love, Healing Love, Unrequited Love, and Nostalgic Love), and gave fans the option to vote for one of these each day. The reason? It has not been revealed yet.
It wasn't until the Weverse packages containing BTS's items were wrapped with tape bearing the phrase that ARMY realized this was the group's doing. But it was never confirmed until now, on Valentine's Day.
After the reveal, BTS members - RM, Jin, SUGA, j-hope, Jimin, V, and Jung Kook - posted their "Love Song Selections" on YouTube Music.
BTS's ARIRANG releases on March 20 at 1 pm KST (March 19, 8 pm PST / 11 pm EST). The next day, on March 21, BTS will hold their comeback concert, BTS THE COMEBACK LIVE ARIRANG, at Gwanghwamun Square, which will be livestreamed on Netflix.
After waiting for a few hours to receive their roses, Isabel Gaglio said it was worth the wait. She said she's excited for this comeback, seeing all the members back together and receiving a piece of them with the rose gift.
"It picked me up and rejuvenated [me]," she says, smiling widely, recalling all their music and past concerts."It brought back all the memories."
Tan, who waited almost four hours, had no regrets waiting for BTS’s gift to the fans. It was worth it for her. She chuckles,“I mean,I’ve waited much longer for [them to come out] of the army.Even my Weverse shipping takes longer than this.So 3.5 hours is nothing.”