GS25 hit for sexist promotional poster

GS25's first promotional poster for camping items / Courtesy of GS Retail

By Kim Jae-heun

GS Retail's convenience store brand, GS25, decided to delete a poster for camping products after the ad was criticized for containing sexist content that belittles men.

The convenience store chain revealed the promotional material Saturday on its social networking service that contains a drawing of a hand trying to grab a sausage. The poster was planned to be displayed for a month.

However, one customer pointed out online that the hand depicted in the poster is making a sign used by misandrists belonging to the radical feminist online community "Megalia" to express their hatred towards men. The image of a sausage situated next to the hand only stirred up controversy.

Customers also argued that the text written on the poster, "Emotional Camping Must-have Item" can be read as "megal" in Korean if the last letters are read backwards. Megal is a word used on Megalia to describe the members themselves.

GS25's second promotional poster for camping items / Courtesy of GS Retail

GS25 erased the allegedly controversial images from the poster and came up with a revised version featuring a moon and three stars on the bottom.

But the moon and three stars is said to be the symbol of a feminist society at Seoul National University.

Those accusing GS25's promotional material of containing sexist images and text wondered why the convenience store inserted an image of a moon and three stars in the revised poster.

Complaints against the controversial poster were posted on several online communities for men here and GS25 eventually removed the moon and stars.

But that was not enough to calm the controversy as GS25 faced calls to issue an official apology or deal with a possible boycott. The convenience store decided to take down the poster altogether.

This time, online communities for women reacted against GS25's decision, saying the company was being pushed around by male chauvinists.

"I don't understand what GS25 is doing. All of the allegations related to the promotional material in the first place were absurd. The convenience store has yielded to men by making corrections," one of the members on the feminist online community wrote.

GS25 has not released an official statement nor commented on the issue.

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