The song has also been adapted into an orchestral version by Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, featuring the arrangement of Park In-young.

[2][3] It was the group's first single as a quartet in years due to member Joy's filming schedule for her first drama The Liar and His Lover (2017),[4] in which she was starring as the female lead.

[5] Through Star-News and SM Entertainment's official press announcement on June 23, 2017, they were reported to have recently finished filming a music video.

[11] In an interview with Tone Glow, the duo revealed that it had originally been written for the British girl group Little Mix with the title "Dance With Nobody".

[10] Musically, Tamar Herman of Billboard characterized "Red Flavor" as an electropop song with "dramatic synths and a percussive melody".

[15] Its Korean lyrics, which were written by long-time SM songwriter Kenzie, Caesar, and Lindell focuses on the theme of "fruit-flavored summer love".

Tamar Herman of Billboard magazine called the track "dynamic in its jam-packed, but not overpowering production" and concluded that it is "sure to be one of the summer's K-pop earworms".

[1] Jeff Benjamin of Fuse described the song as a "super-simple-to-swallow piece of pop", giving credit to the "cheery-chanty melody", which he pointed to as one of Red Velvet's more accessible tunes.

[14][20] Chester Chin of The Star labelled the song an "in-your-face summer jam" and added that it was "relentlessly catchy".

[21] Taylor Glasby of Dazed commented that the song "shouldn't be seen as merely a quirky fix", stating: "It's complex and intimidating and that it feels so immediate and identifiable on the surface is just emblematic of its greatness."

[22] GQ Korea named "Red Flavor" its Song of the Year in the magazine's November 2017 issue.

[25] The magazine later featured "Red Flavor" in their decennial staff list of The 100 Greatest K-pop Songs of the 2010s at number two, calling it an "undeniable hit since day one and remains ever-beloved by fans worldwide".

[51][52][53] Following its appearance at number 20 on 2017's Gaon Year-End Digital Chart, "Red Flavor" became Red Velvet's longest-charting entry to date,[54] having spent a total of 64 consecutive weeks within the top 100 of the Digital Chart,[55][56] while re-appearing for 16 weeks on the lower half of the new top 200 as of September 2019.

[59][60] As of September 2018, the song has sold over 2,500,000 downloads in South Korea, making it the group's fifth million-seller and currently their best selling single.

[1] Choreographed by Kyle Hanagami who had previously worked with the group for their singles "Be Natural" (2014), "Ice Cream Cake" (2015) and "Russian Roulette" (2016),[70][71] the song's music video was directed by director Seong Chang-won.

[1][19] It shows various scenes in where Red Velvet can be seen interviewing fruits, and appears on a small screen, expressing something with their hands, which turned out to be a sign language.

[84] During the group's attendance at 2017 Mnet Asian Music Awards, they performed the Hitchhiker remix version of the song along with their November single "Peek-a-Boo".

[86] As part of the group's attendance and performance at the Spring is Coming concert,[87] which was intended as part of a wider diplomatic initiative between South Korea and North Korea, Red Velvet performed the song along with "Bad Boy" in Pyongyang at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre to an audience that saw the appearance of Korean Workers' Party chairman Kim Jong-un.