For other groups that release bad songs, you can imagine that maybe the CEO and producers could have thought the song was pretty good.
But Ryan Jhun has produced countless hit songs and has been producing for over 10 years. He knows what a hit or "good song" sounds like, and clearly Pop is a more niche style that will not appeal to a lot of people.
So why would he choose this song for the first comeback of his new rookie group?
Sounding unique is a valid strategy, but Pop is one of the worst songs I have ever heard.
On the other hand bugAboo's debut (produced by Ryan Jhun; Pop isn't produced by him) sounds very traditional, of good quality, and acceptable.
It is possible he didn't have time to produce the title this time. (He assisted in producing the b-side of the album but his name is listed last out of 4 producers) But that doesn't explain why out of all the possible demos he could have chosen, he put confidence into this one.
I just don't get it
Here is Pop
And I just noticed he produced Real Love for OMG (first name in the composer list). So maybe his ears for titles aren't as great as I thought. But even so Real Love was just forgettable and you forget what it sounds like, but Pop actually sounds bad. I can imagine him thinking Real Love is understated but good (or something) or having a bias because it's his own work, but how did he approve Pop?
He also produced My Turn for Cravity but in this case he is the last name on the list of 4 composers. And again OMG and Cravity are established groups, but bugAboo is a new group that is not doing very well and he picked this weak song for them on purpose, again, I just don't get it