SM Entertainment’s latest boy group RIIZE will be changing their official fandom name.
Initially, on September 4, RIIZE announced their fan club name as “SUNZ” during their debut showcase “RIIZING DAY: RIIZE Premiere.”
However, on September 6, SM Entertainment informed fans that they had become aware of potential negative connotations of the name “SUNZ.” To prevent any negative interpretations of the fan club name in the future, they have decided to change RIIZE’s fandom name to “BRIIZE.”
The full statement is as follows:
"Hello.
We sincerely thank all the fans who have shown their support for RIIZE upon their debut.
With your overwhelming support, RIIZE unveiled their official fan club name, which will accompany them on their journey, on their debut date on September 4.
While we initially announced the fan club name as “SUNZ,” which received the most votes from fans, we have since learned that there were many concerns among fans that “SUNZ” could be interpreted negatively, unintentionally distorting the positive meaning of “SUNZ,” which was meant to represent the fans’ growth together with RIIZE.
Since the goal was to have a name that carries a positive meaning to call all the fans supporting RIIZE and a name that signifies [both RIIZE and the fans’] collective growth, we have decided to change the fan club name to the second most-voted option, ‘BRIIZE.’ We kindly request your understanding regarding this change.
The service for RIIZE’s official fan club ‘BRIIZE’ will officially start on September 12 (Tuesday). Through the official fan club, we will keep you updated with RIIZE’s activities, so please show a lot of interest in RIIZE’s official fan club ‘BRIIZE.’
Thank you."
Source: Soompi