Use of Provocative Booth Names and Menus... "Is This Really 2022?"
University Responds, "Bar Removed and Warnings Issued to Department and Student Council"
At a university festival in Daejeon, controversy arose over a banner displaying provocative phrases. [Photo by Everytime]
[Asia Economy Culture Young Intern Reporter] A menu board at a pub in a university festival in Daejeon is causing controversy for evoking titles of adult content.
On the 22nd, a photo of a pub menu board created by a certain department was posted on an anonymous community called 'Everytime' at a university in Daejeon. The poster, Mr. A, said, "All other booths have their department names written, but this one does not," and added, "From the booth name to the menu, the intention is obvious. Who on earth is managing this festival to allow this?"
In the photo released by Mr. A, the banner of the problematic booth has red letters on a white background that read, "Oppa... I think it will be cheap here." Above the text, droplets are drawn, and at the bottom, the small word "price" is written.
A university festival in Daejeon sparked controversy for creating a menu that evoked obscene materials. [Photo by Everytime]
The menu names on the board reminded people of adult content titles. They included ▲[Domestic] Her Thick Spicy Pork Stir-fry ▲[Anime] Sharing Fish Cake Soup ▲[Western] Secretly Eating Sleeping Kimchi Pancake ▲[Japanese] DoKyoHoT Soya ▲[Russian] Well-Ripened Chicken Nuggets ▲[Hardcore] Slurp Fruit Fruits ▲[Y/M] Overflowing Corn Cheese at the Mouth Corner ▲[N/M] Eating Canned Drinks, among others.
Next to the menu names, instead of the Korean currency 'won' indicating price, the video file size unit GB (gigabyte) was written alongside avi, one of the video formats.
A provocative banner and menu board using suggestive phrases posted on a university community site, Everytime, in Daejeon. The author criticized, "The intention is obvious from the booth name to the menu." Comments claim that the department in question is the Accounting Department. [Photo by Everytime]
The post by Mr. A quickly spread to other online communities. A student at the university claimed that the department running the problematic pub was the 'Department of Accounting.' Netizens who saw the post reacted negatively, saying things like "It's shocking that no one stopped this," "Is this really a photo from 2022?" and "It's unpleasant." Some also said that expressions implying sexual crimes such as "sharing," "secretly eating while sleeping," and "eating" crossed the line.
However, on other communities, comments like "It's a university festival, so that much is acceptable," "How closed-minded do you have to be not to understand that much," and "It's freedom of expression" appeared, causing another shock.
As the controversy grew, the university removed the pub. A university official stated, "It seems they used inappropriate phrases while trying to emphasize that the food prices were cheap," and added, "We have warned the student council of the Department of Accounting that planned the booth and requested a written reflection." The official continued, "We have notified the student council, college, and all student organizations about this matter and will take strict measures if it happens again. We will conduct further investigations and handle it according to school regulations." The student council apologized, saying, "The department's pub is no longer operating, and we sincerely apologize to the students."
This is not the first time that provocative phrases have caused controversy at university festival booths. In May, a university in Jeonbuk also used the booth name "Oppa, I think it will be cheap here (price)," and in 2017, a university in Gwangju faced criticism for menu board phrases such as "Oppa's Sausage Vegetable Stir-fry... very big."
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