[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] SK Stoa, which aired a home shopping broadcast reminiscent of the United Future Party's election campaign, has deleted the broadcast video, but criticism has not subsided. Some netizens have even launched a boycott.
On the 19th, SK Stoa explained, "The broadcast was filmed on December 9 last year, and the product was first aired on December 18. The home shopping broadcast aired the day before was a rerun. We did not intend to support any particular party or have any specific purpose in broadcasting this. We hope there will be no misunderstandings regarding this."
They added, "We should have replaced the broadcast video through prior monitoring, but we apologize for proceeding with the broadcast without noticing this issue."
Earlier, SK Stoa aired a 'Clean Nation' toilet paper sales broadcast from 12:37 PM to 1:15 PM on the 18th. The broadcast was conducted with a concept resembling an election campaign, with the presenters wearing pink jumpers and red sashes over their shoulders. The phrase "We will make a clean nation" was displayed on the broadcast stage and in the lower subtitles.
Netizens claimed this closely resembled the United Future Party's election campaign. They pointed out that the color of the jumpers worn by the cast was similar to the party's symbolic color, "Happy Pink," and that only the '2' in the product price of 25,910 won was highlighted in red, reminding them of the United Future Party's candidate number 2.
As the broadcast aired, criticism spread mainly through online communities and social networking services (SNS). Posts and photos certifying withdrawal from SK Stoa membership appeared on some online communities such as Bobae Dream and Clien, and "Clean Nation" even trended on Twitter's real-time trends, continuing the controversy.
One netizen posted on Twitter, "Clean Nation is wearing the United Future Party's color clothes and advertising on home shopping saying 'We will make a clean nation.' I will keep this in mind when buying toilet paper," and this post was retweeted over 4,000 times.
In response to the controversy, 'Clean Nation' expressed discomfort. A company representative said, "This has nothing to do with us. We do not support the United Future Party either. The broadcast was recorded last year. However, since the United Future Party was founded on February 17 and the general election is approaching, it seems to have become controversial."
They added, "We are completely unrelated and were not involved in the production. This is an embarrassing and awkward situation," they said.
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