Lush Korea draws protest from feminists

A female pedestrian looks at a poster that reads, “You are not a water deer,” in this screen capture of a video clip which won a contest hosted by Lush Korea. Some male posters refer to female victims of traffic accidents as “water deer,” which many women consider sexist. / Screen capture from Lush Korea's Instagram

By Park Jae-hyuk

Lush Korea has become the latest target for the nation's radical feminist groups, who regard two of the company's video clips recently posted on Instagram as “misogynistic.”

Although the U.K. cosmetics maker's local subsidiary said Wednesday it did not intend to insult women, the growing number of Instagram users threatening to boycott Lush's products seems to be weighing on the company.

The feminists criticized Lush Korea at first for a video clip that shows a female pedestrian, who thinks twice about jaywalking, after seeing a poster that reads “You are not a water deer.”

The video clip, which Lush Korea posted on Instagram on Aug. 1, was the winner of a contest hosted by the company.

Critics said the video clip was misogynistic, citing a vulgar term used by some male internet users who liken female victims of traffic accidents to water deer.

Some of them claim the award-winning work ridicules the deaths of animals and by extension women.

The criticism against Lush Korea has been even fiercer, after it posted another video clip Aug. 2.

The animation shows a man carrying flowers and packaged Lush products, saying, “They are too heavy. You carry them,” to someone who will receive his gifts.

Female Instagram users regard these remarks as criticizing women for not carrying heavy bags.

As a company in the cosmetics industry that has continued to work for animal rights and opposes animal testing, Lush Korea said it agrees with customers who pointed out the award-winning video clip's attitude toward animals.

“We should think about animal rights again,” a Lush Korea spokeswoman said. “We will be more careful about making content regarding animals.”

As for misogyny, she said her company was not aware of the meaning behind the “water deer” comment, and did not intend to offend women.

“We are discussing countermeasures,” the spokeswoman said.

Lush, which has been recognized for supporting sexual minorities, participated in the Seoul Queer Culture Festival this year to encourage its LGBT employees.