Fans slam S'pore's KPop Demon Hunters pop-up as 'glorified merch store'
Hyped by social media buzz, fans came to the long-awaited Singapore stop of the KPop Demon Hunters pop-up, only to find what they said were little more than shelves filled with overpriced merchandise.
Following its well-received debut in Seoul, Singapore is the second city to host the pop-up event, centred on the highly popular animated film about a K-pop girl group which also hunts demons.
The Singapore leg will run at *Scape till Jan 11, 2026, before moving on to Bangkok and Tokyo, and concluding in Taipei.
Singaporeans who visited the Seoul event said that while it did have merchandise on sale, it also featured realistic rooms and recreations of food from the film, along with multiple interactive experiences.
TikToker @chewjiayi0 praised the immersive elements of the Seoul event and urged others to book their tickets for the Singapore pop-up, as slots were filling fast.
Posted on Dec 22, the clip has since garnered over 102,700 views, 1,668 reactions and 37 comments.
However, the excitement was short-lived, with fans calling the Singapore event "utterly disappointing" and a far cry from the pop-up in Korea.
In a Dec 23 post, TikToker @SAKURADAYDREAM claimed her visit to the city-state's pop-up lasted only 13 minutes and joked about the "comedy gold" of her reactions after realising that the event was little more than a merchandise store.
"We were expecting full-on displays and photo spots like Korea's setup," the fan wrote. Instead, there were "zero photo areas, displays, NOTHING".
Noting that they should have seen the "red flags" beforehand, the fan noted that no floor plan for the event was released and called the standee for photos "a joke".
The fan further criticised the merchandise at the pop-up, saying the photocards on sale were "blurry screencaps" from the film. Unnecessary wrist tags were also handed out to visitors upon entry and were cut off after their very short visit.
"I saw SO many young kids all dressed up," she said, adding that she "lowkey feel bad because there was nothing much for them".
'This is a sign, I'm not going anymore': Netizens
Many fans also criticised the high prices of the merchandise. "$116 for either a fleece Saja Boys jacket or a medium-sized Derpy plush is CRAZY," one said.
"Do not waste your time, brought my nieces along, it was more of a shopping spree for them," another added.
"Almost every 'pop-up' in Singapore is a scam," one quipped. "It looks like a prison ngl."
"I don't think pop-up booths in sg will ever be that big?" one wrote, noting that the Zootopia and One Piece pop-ups largely consisted of merchandise as well.
"They really should've just called it a Popup Merch Store instead," one user commented.
"I don't even know what's the point of the wristbands," one fan said. "I was also shocked it (the pop-up) was so small, because when I saw the schedule there were so many staff [sic]."
Stomp has reached out to event organisers b.stage for comment.
