Is Heart2Heart’s ‘Facebook Official’ The Intro To Lance Bass’ Boy Band Reality TV Show?

The new boy band Heart2Heart is puzzling music pundits with its “kinda like a parody but maybe it’s not” music video “Facebook Official.” Given that any kind of boy band action would seem like a parody to pretty much any highly visible music writer, it’s not surprising that this K-Pop influenced bit of cotton candy seems like a joke. But isn’t it quite possible that this is Lance Bass‘ entry in his upcoming boy band reality tv show?

Heart2Heart – Facebook Official

For those who’ve missed out on the pleasure of Heart2Heart’s debut song and dance routine, Facebook Official, please take a moment to watch as much of the above video as possible before reading any further.

Still with us? The short version is that folks are mostly assuming that Heart2Heart is a parody project by Lance Bass, of NSYNC fame, and performer/director David Lehre who appears as group “Leader” Chad Future. Due to the possibility that it has been deliberately designed to infuriate as many people as possible, a la Rebecca Black, it is considered by some to be part of the emerging Trollgaze genre, a music critic construct.

The K-Pop elements have been widely noted though I mostly see the connection via the hairstyles and initially thought of J-Pop. In any case, it makes sense that K-Pop is going to be a bigger influence on American acts with such recent developments as the creation of the Billboard K-Pop Hot 100 chart and the first K-Pop dance convention in the U.S.

Simon Demunco, or an AdAge editor, thinks this song and video may be Facebook’s “Most Horrifying Brand Exposure EVER.” Numerous YouTube commentors would agree as they struggle with the fact that “what has been seen cannot be unseen“.

I think it’s an incredibly well-crafted piece of pop culture that should remind us that most mass media can be compared to highly polished hood ornaments created by knowledgeable artisans backed by excessive amounts of capital.

That said, in what appears to be an uncredited article at The Huffington Post, the connection to Lance Bass’ upcoming boy band reality tv show is made with the cheeky observation that “perhaps the show didn’t pan out and Heart2Heart is what he came up with instead.”

Given my general adherence to the rule that there are no coincidences when money and marketing intersect, I’m assuming that this is either Lance’s entry in his show that will feature former boy band stars creating new boy band groups or it’s a marketing intro for an announcement related to the show.

Get set for a look at Heart2Heart’s emerging fanbase as they start posting dance video responses to Facebook Official on YouTube.

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. He blogs about web business at Flux Research and at This Business of Blogging. To suggest music services and related topics for review at Hypebot, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.