By Kim Jae-heun
Advertisements, perceived as sexist by some, are causing a minor stir in the retail market. Only a few days after GS Retail was hit for releasing a poster for camping products that some claim belittles men, two chicken franchise firms, Kyochon F&B and BBQ Genesis, have become embroiled in yet another controversy over what some suggest is sexist content.
Kyochon, Korea's No.1 fried chicken franchise firm, uploaded ads on its social media account depicting what are supposed to be women's hands holding chicken drumsticks. The shape of the thumb and finger holding the piece of chicken, however, was seen by some as the sign used by female extremists belonging to the now defunct radical feminist online community "Megalia" to express their hatred towards men.
This latest "controversy" went viral in some online communities here, especially those frequented by men, which criticized the image saying the depiction showed an "unnatural" way to pick up a piece of chicken.
"Why do you have to pick up a fried chicken thigh with your index finger and thumb in in the form of the radical feminists Megalia logo?" one of the netizens wrote in one community, suggesting a boycott of Kyochon.
But, others said that it is actually quite natural for people to eat chicken drumsticks in such a manner, and those who feel uncomfortable with the advertisements are anti-feminist radicals.
"They are being ultra-sensitive over nothing. It is natural for people pick up piece of a chicken with their index finger and thumb," another person replied in the comments section.
Responding to the controversy generated over Kyochon's posters, the third-ranking fried chicken franchise firm BBQ Genesis also took down its online posters and released a statement apologizing for any inadvertent sexist content in any of its advertising.
"There have been suggestions that our past promotional material used a certain image. We are checking with our marketing team and if it was intentionally made to deliver a gender-sensitive message, we will remove all adverts containing it," BBQ Genesis wrote in the statement.
Kyochon said its poster for the popular chicken dish was not intended to deliver a sexist message; but it did remove the ad from social media.
Meanwhile, GS Retail CEO Cho Yoon-sung apologized for an advertisement showing a hand making a similar gesture, Tuesday.
"I apologize for the design of the poster that caused pain and inconvenience to our customers. We will thoroughly investigate those involved in making the image," Cho said in an official statement.
Online fashion platform Musinsa was also embroiled in the same issue for releasing promotional image that depicted a hand holding a credit card in a similar manner. The fashion firm said it had "no other intention but to promote a collaborative event with Hyundai Card."
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| Kyochon F&B's controversial ad on social media account / Screen-captured from Kyochon F&B Instagram |
Kyochon, Korea's No.1 fried chicken franchise firm, uploaded ads on its social media account depicting what are supposed to be women's hands holding chicken drumsticks. The shape of the thumb and finger holding the piece of chicken, however, was seen by some as the sign used by female extremists belonging to the now defunct radical feminist online community "Megalia" to express their hatred towards men.
This latest "controversy" went viral in some online communities here, especially those frequented by men, which criticized the image saying the depiction showed an "unnatural" way to pick up a piece of chicken.
"Why do you have to pick up a fried chicken thigh with your index finger and thumb in in the form of the radical feminists Megalia logo?" one of the netizens wrote in one community, suggesting a boycott of Kyochon.
But, others said that it is actually quite natural for people to eat chicken drumsticks in such a manner, and those who feel uncomfortable with the advertisements are anti-feminist radicals.
"They are being ultra-sensitive over nothing. It is natural for people pick up piece of a chicken with their index finger and thumb," another person replied in the comments section.
Responding to the controversy generated over Kyochon's posters, the third-ranking fried chicken franchise firm BBQ Genesis also took down its online posters and released a statement apologizing for any inadvertent sexist content in any of its advertising.
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| The logo of radical feminist online community "Megalia" / Korea Times file |
Kyochon said its poster for the popular chicken dish was not intended to deliver a sexist message; but it did remove the ad from social media.
Meanwhile, GS Retail CEO Cho Yoon-sung apologized for an advertisement showing a hand making a similar gesture, Tuesday.
 |
| Promotional materials of GS25 and Musinsa containing alleged 'sexist' content / Both screen-captured from two firms' Instagram account |
Online fashion platform Musinsa was also embroiled in the same issue for releasing promotional image that depicted a hand holding a credit card in a similar manner. The fashion firm said it had "no other intention but to promote a collaborative event with Hyundai Card."
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