IVE Brings 'Looks Can Kill' to New York's Times Square in Global Promotional Campaign

K-POP girl group IVE is taking its new music to big screens at home and abroad. The group is running a large promotional campaign in major cities in South Korea and overseas to support its new mini album, "Looks Can Kill."

IVE, made up of An Yujin, Gaeul, Rei, Jang Wonyoung, Liz and Leeseo, pre-released the title track of the same name on the 19th of last month. The full mini album followed on the 26th.

Since then, the group has rolled out promotional content at COEX and Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) in Seoul, and in Times Square in New York.

At COEX, IVE set up "600 Seconds of Flutter" (600-cho-ui Seolleim), an interactive media project. It plays 10 minutes of close-up footage of the members' faces. The screens are arranged so viewers feel like they are making eye contact with the members.

A second project, "DDP 365 Light X IVE," is running in partnership with the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Design Foundation. The media art event draws on the movie-style concept of "Looks Can Kill." It pairs a laser show with a special edit of the title track's music video. An exhibition space and photo zones let visitors step into the album's concept in person.

The campaign reaches well beyond Seoul. A large billboard in Times Square is showing video content featuring the members. In Taiwan, screens inside taxis are introducing "Looks Can Kill" to riders.

Online, the group released a mini game built around the album. On TikTok, it launched a "Search Hub," a dedicated search page that gathers related videos and content in one place. The idea is to give fans several different ways to find the album.

Before the release, IVE borrowed heavily from the way movies are marketed. The group made posters featuring one-line reviews from director Jang Hang-jun, Hollywood director Michael Goi, and actors Lee Dong-wook and Lee Kwang-soo, among others. It also released casting posters that introduce the members the way a film introduces its cast.

The group went further with "TALKS CAN KILL," content modeled on a GV, the Korean term for a post-screening talk with the audience. It also held an event that screened the music video in a movie theater. The whole rollout was built to feel like the run-up to an actual film premiere.

Much of the content centers on a new character for the group, the "Girl Hero," which marks a turn from its earlier activities.

"Looks Can Kill" is a spinoff project in which IVE takes on that Girl Hero persona, following earlier identities as Cupid and a magical girl. The album's message is that anyone can be the lead, and the hero, of their own life.

From a theater screen to a taxi in Taiwan, the campaign shows how a K-pop release today can be staged less like an album drop and more like a movie opening.