Valentine’s Day came and went, and while some people filled their feeds with soft-launch couple pics, others leaned into confidence — and maybe a little spice — over their ex. BOYNEXTDOOR chose the latter.
On Monday, February 9, Samyang Foods announced it was teaming up with the K-pop powerhouse for "Hotter Than My EX," a new global campaign for its wildly popular Buldak ramen. The collaboration reframes the holiday as a celebration of self-worth rather than romance, and it comes loaded with a new musical release.
According to the official press release, “BOYNEXTDOOR's hit track ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ has been reimagined as ‘Buldak Hotter Than My EX Ver.’ The members directly participated in writing the new lyrics.” Now circulating online, the video quickly sparked reactions from fans in the comments section on YouTube.
“MOST UNEXPECTED THING FROM BND😭 THESE NEW LYRICS ARE SO FUNNY I CAN'T — I'm Earth, Wind & Fire,” one person wrote.
“‘hotter than my ex’ lmao 😭😭 i’m sorry i still cant get over it, at this point i feel bad for the ex ngl😭,” another joked.
“It dropped like a college unannounced assignment 😭 But the difference is that I lowkey loved this surprise,” chimed in a third.
“This is literally Sungho's dream come true lmao,” another fan added, while someone else noted, “Bro's mentioned how he liked buldak a few times 😭.”
BOYNEXTDOOR’s rise has been moving quickly. The six-member group, which consists of Sungho, Riwoo, Jaehyun, Taesan, Leehan, and Woonhak, debuted in May 2023 under KOZ Entertainment, the label founded by ZICO and now part of HYBE.
In under three years, they’ve landed five consecutive releases on the Billboard 200, reached million-seller status with their EP 19.99, and won the Grand Performer Award at the 2025 Korea Grand Music Awards. They also wrapped their first tour, KNOCK ON Vol.1, across Asia last year, and their fandom, ONEDOOR, is growing fast — Spotify currently lists the group at around 2.7 million monthly listeners.