A part of the apology statement posted by Jomanho, CEO of Musinsa. Photo by Musinsa official Instagram account capture
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] Domestic online fashion platform 'Musinsa' recently issued discount coupons only to female customers and suspended the accounts of male customers who raised concerns, sparking a 'gender discrimination controversy.' After initially addressing the issue without improvement, CEO Jo Man-ho personally apologized on the 8th.
On that day, CEO Jo posted an apology statement on Musinsa's online mall and official social media channels, saying, "We sincerely apologize to our valued customers who use and cherish Musinsa for the disappointment caused by the controversy over issuing coupons to specific customers."
CEO Jo explained, "The coupons in question were issued to expand purchases by female customers and were initially applicable only to women's products, but since August last year, some unisex brands have also been included. This was a clear mistake and fault on our part during the coupon issuance process."
He added, "We will improve the coupon operation direction so that greater benefits go to Musinsa's loyal customers. Coupons and promotions that provide benefits based on gender will be discontinued after the last issued coupons."
Furthermore, he stated, "As an apology for the flawed policy, for the next six months, all customers will be provided with one 20% discount coupon per month, usable on a per-product basis until the end of each month. We will continuously review member benefits and promotions to prevent reverse discrimination caused by excessive promotions aimed at short-term goals."
CEO Jo also said, "In the future, if Musinsa blinds comments, we plan to develop and improve a notification feature within one month so that commenters can be informed of the reason. Once again, we sincerely apologize to all customers who cherish Musinsa."
The post titled 'Musinsa Coupon Gender Discrimination Controversy' uploaded on the 5th. Photo by Online Community Capture
Earlier, on the 5th, a post titled 'Musinsa Coupon Gender Discrimination Controversy' was uploaded on an online community, sparking the gender discrimination controversy surrounding Musinsa.
At that time, a commenter who posted a protest comment on a captured photo said, "Men who asked for Woosinsa (Musinsa's own women's fashion platform) coupons in protest comments were suspended for 60 days," adding, "Even though I am a Diamond grade member, it is much cheaper to use Woosinsa coupons with a member-grade account, so some buy using their younger sister's account."
He further revealed, "Men who asked for Woosinsa coupons in protest comments were suspended for 60 days." The coupon mentioned by the poster is known to be issued only to female members twice a month, totaling three coupons, and can be used for unisex products as well.
As the controversy grew, Musinsa explained on its official SNS account on the 6th, "Woosinsa coupons were issued as part of marketing to relatively increase the proportion of female customers," and "We contacted the customer who raised the issue by phone to explain the purpose of this coupon marketing, future improvement plans, the blinding of comments, and the restriction of community use."
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