Subscriber Decline Continues After Apology
Comedy YouTube Channel Drops from 1st to 31st Place
The YouTube channel Pisik University, which faced controversy over regional disparagement, continues to experience a decline in subscribers even after issuing an apology. The subscriber count is now at risk of falling below the 3 million mark.
According to YouTube aggregation site Playboard, Pisik University's subscriber count dropped from 3.18 million on the 15th to 3 million on the 25th, a decrease of 180,000. Although they posted an apology video on the 18th, one week after the controversy began, and subsequently made the video private, the subscriber decline was not halted. Their ranking, calculated based on subscriber numbers and view counts, also plummeted significantly. Pisik University had maintained an unshakable first place in the comedy category, but after this controversy, it fell to 31st place. The number of netizens clicking on Pisik University videos also appears to be decreasing. Weekly view counts dropped sharply to 22.94 million from 30.73 million the previous week.
In a video released on the 11th, Pisik University visited Yeongyang County in Gyeongbuk Province and made remarks such as "It looks like China" at the terminal, and described Yeongyang County’s specialty jelly as "tasting like tearing off a grandmother’s skin," which sparked criticism. They also made rude evaluations of local restaurants. Subsequently, terrestrial broadcasters reported on the video and criticized it.
As the controversy grew, Pisik University posted an apology statement on the 18th, about seven days after the video was posted. At that time, Pisik University stated, "We apologize to everyone who was hurt. We will take this opportunity to reconsider our social responsibilities." They also mentioned that they revisited the restaurants involved in the disparagement controversy to apologize again.
Oh Do-chang, the mayor of Yeongyang County, appeared on SBS radio program 'Kim Taehyun's Political Show' on the 20th and pointed out, "Although it is a comedy program, it was very inappropriate to use content that hurt the pride of the county residents by portraying a negative image and disparaging or mocking the region."
Comedian Park Myung-soo emphasized on the 24th broadcast of KBS CoolFM's 'Park Myung-soo's Radio Show' segment 'Search N Chart,' "It seems the juniors made mistakes while trying hard and being funny. However, comedians must have a sense of boundaries they must not cross," adding, "There are things that should never be done. You can do anything to be funny, but you must not belittle others or drive a nail into someone’s heart."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
