Kiwoom Securities Under Criticism for Offensive Ad

By Park Hyong-ki

Staff Reporter

Kiwoom Securities is being criticized for posting advertisements using expletives, making both bystanders and securities customers uneasy.

The online brokerage company started advertising in subway stations across Seoul last week. On the ad, an illustration shows a man shoveling, and it asks ``why is the man shoveling?'' with three possible answers for subway riders to choose from.

The first of the answers reads: Because the area is under construction. The second says, the man has the energy to do so; and lastly, because he traded stocks through services provided by other securities firms rather than Kiwoom.

The question itself has been irritating not only customers but also other brokerage houses as the ad uses a harsh word ``sapjil'' ― meaning shoveling or digging in Korean. It is a profane word, often used in the military among soldiers, indicating that someone is just wasting time, acting idiotically or digging his own grave. So, the last answer literally translates to: ``The man is digging his own grave because he used another brokerage service other than Kiwoom.''

Securities firms are criticizing Kiwoom's marketing scheme by saying that it is downgrading the image of the industry, while being offensive to customers.

An official of a brokerage firm told local media, ``This scheme clearly comes from a firm that has marketed low fees rather than quality services.''

Other firms noted that Kiwoom's act is ``unreasonable and unrighteous.''

Kiwoom is widely known to offer low trading fees for retail investors utilizing its online system, compared with its peers. But it has been receiving unfavorable responses from the industry, as the company only seems to make efforts to attract short-term investors and apply high interest rates on retail borrowing for stock purchases.

The Korea Securities Dealers Association said it plans to discipline the securities firm for its offensive advertisement and failing to go through a review process prior to launching the ad.

``We will penalize the firm after reviewing the contents of its advertisement,'' said an official of the association.

Kiwoom shares shed 1,100 won, or 2.09 percent, at 51,400 won.

phk@koreatimes.co.kr