Character Keyring Giveaway Event with Beverage Purchase
Controversy Over Many Discarded Drinks
Beverage franchise Gongcha is struggling due to the keyrings released in collaboration with the popular PC game "Final Fantasy 14." Game enthusiasts and resellers have been hoarding large quantities of drinks to obtain the character keyrings, then requesting disposal, causing store paralysis. Since the event stores are concentrated only in the metropolitan area, controversy over regional discrimination has also arisen.
From the 17th of this month to the 28th of next month, Gongcha is offering one of three keyrings featuring Final Fantasy 14 characters Dungnyangi, Dungbo Chocobo, and Moogle when customers purchase at least 10,000 won including one of the three event drinks.
As the game is popular, not only fans but also resellers flocked to the stores. On the third day of the event, social media (SNS) was filled with eyewitness accounts of people ordering dozens of drinks just to get the keyrings and then asking for the drinks to be discarded.
With orders requiring making and discarding dozens of drinks, store employees are also distressed. On SNS, there were responses like "The employees looked so exhausted that I couldn't even ask questions." As customers crowded the stores, actual customers who came to drink had to wait a long time. After stories spread that people received large quantities of drinks for free by saying "I bought them because of the event" in front of the stores, even more people began visiting event stores just for free drinks.
There is also controversy over regional discrimination because the keyring distribution stores are concentrated in the metropolitan area. Gongcha designated 18 stores in Seoul, 2 in Busan, 1 in Daegu, 1 in Ulsan, and 1 in Chungcheong for keyring pickup. There are no event stores in Gangwon, Jeolla, or Jeju. Busan has only two stores, and one of them is the Gimhae Airport Domestic Terminal store, which can only be visited after completing all departure procedures.
Meanwhile, confusion has increased as some stores that did not announce themselves as event stores also held the event, further aggravating user dissatisfaction.
Some argue that hoarding and drink disposal could have been sufficiently prevented. They pointed out, "If measures such as limiting drink purchases during the event period had been implemented, drinks would not have been wasted," and "If measures to prevent hoarding, such as purchase quantity limits, had been prepared, more diverse consumers would have had the opportunity to buy."
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