Advertising Industry, Seo Yea-ji Relay Cutoff... "Tens of Billions in Penalty Risk"

Actor Seo Yea-ji. Photo by Seo Yea-ji Instagram capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] Actress Seo Ye-ji is facing the risk of paying advertising penalties worth tens of billions of won due to various controversies. As allegations such as gaslighting, school violence, academic fraud, and power abuse have been raised, the advertising industry appears to be initiating a 'Seo Ye-ji erasure.'

On the 16th, all advertisement videos for the web novel "Harem Men," in which Seo Ye-ji appeared, disappeared from the Naver Series YouTube channel.

Naver Series conducted a brand campaign last year starring actors Ju Ji-hoon and Seo Ye-ji.

In the advertisement, Seo Ye-ji played the role of the empress in "Harem Men," portraying a shocking storyline where the empress takes five concubines, which gained popularity.

However, currently, only Ju Ji-hoon's advertisement videos remain on the YouTube channel.

Nonetheless, Seo Ye-ji's appearances are still present on Naver Series' Instagram and Facebook.

Eyewear company Rieti switched the advertisement video featuring Seo Ye-ji, released last month, to private.

Women's health care brand New Origin deleted Seo Ye-ji's photos from the Innerflora advertisement, where she was a model, on the 14th. The advertisement videos uploaded on YouTube and other platforms were also set to private.

Mask brand Aer, beauty brand Luna, and LBB CELL BEAUTY also removed Seo Ye-ji advertisements from their websites.

Fashion brands that sponsored clothing and bags have also stopped sponsorships for Seo Ye-ji.

Accordingly, Seo Ye-ji is at risk of having to compensate advertising penalty fees amounting to tens of billions of won.

Typically, when an advertising model causes social controversy and negatively affects a company's image, they are required to pay penalties approximately 2 to 3 times the advertising fee.

According to the advertising industry, Seo Ye-ji's modeling fee is reported to be between 500 million and 1 billion won annually under contract. If companies claim damages, Seo Ye-ji could face penalties exceeding 3 billion won.