LE SSERAFIM, ILLIT & KATSEYE's 'ICONIC BY MISTAKE' MV: Director Cody Critcheloe breaks down the concept
The collab MV hit #1 on YouTube's Music Video Trending Worldwide on June 11, passed 29M views, and landed 3rd on the UK Official Trending Chart by June 16.
ICONIC BY MISTAKE dropped June 11 and went straight to number 1 on YouTube's Music Video Trending Worldwide chart. Seven days later it sits at roughly 29 million views. The dance practice video released June 14 also topped the same chart.
The single itself arrived June 12—an alternative pop track built on strong beats and an addictive hook. By release day it entered Spotify's Daily Top Songs Global at number 29, then climbed to 25 by June 16. The UK Official Trending Chart placed it at 3rd that same date, behind Olivia Rodrigo's "Stupid Song" and Sienna Spiro's "Material Lover." (The chart combines downloads, physical sales, and streaming data, tracking consumption from Friday through Monday each week.) It charted across the US, Korea, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia, and the Philippines.
Director Cody Critcheloe—a photographer and musician who built his reputation through the multimedia project SSION, and who previously directed BTS J-Hope's Killin' It Girl (feat. GloRilla) and KATSEYE's Touch and Gnarly videos—spoke to Weverse Magazine on June 17 about the visual choices. The MV places the three groups in a dark nighttime cemetery, a dental clinic packed with strange medical instruments, and a cornfield in a storm. Not on a glamorous stage. The police figures in the video, Critcheloe explained, are "a comprehensive metaphor for the entertainment industry where endless evaluation and verification are repeated."
His stated goal was to subvert conventional beauty standards while keeping each group's identity intact within a single shared narrative. "Mistakes, coincidences, and even imperfection can become elements that make someone an icon," he said—a line that doubles as a thesis for the title itself.
The MV closes with all three teams gathered around a blazing fire, roasting marshmallows, playing acoustic guitar, and laughing. Critcheloe called the moment "surprisingly simple, yet lovely and somewhat ridiculous" and described it as what Americans jokingly call "campfire-style unity"—"a sense of being connected to each other, and the emotion of experiencing something together."
Choreography challenge clips, fan covers, and tutorial content have been spreading across social media since the release.
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