KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 15 ― A South Korean dairy company has apologised after airing an advertisement that compared women to cows.
According to Daily Mail which quoted Korea Times, the ‘wildlife documentary’ commercial for Seoul Milk had provoked a social media outrage after it was released on Seoul Milk's YouTube channel on November 29.
In the 38-second YouTube video, a man comes across a group of women performing yoga and drinking water from tree leaves.
Based on the narration, the videographer is taken aback to witness them drinking clean water and following an eco-friendly diet in a pleasant environment, while filming them without their knowledge.
“We finally succeeded in capturing them on video at a beautiful spot where nature is kept in its purity.”
“They drink clean water from pure nature, insist on an eco-friendly organic diet, and live peacefully in a pleasant environment. I will try to approach them cautiously.”
Stepping on a branch, the ‘women’ are startled and transform into cows.
The content, which was intended to promote herds of cows from a Cheongiang organic ranch, was removed from the site on December 8 after being criticised for being sexist, relating to “molka” crimes, that involves illegal filming without consent.
Even though the video was removed from YouTube, it was widely circulated on social media where many internet users criticised it.
Seoul Milk, which is the southeast Asian country's largest dairy brand, made an official apology for coming up with an inappropriate concept and promised to be more careful in their future commercials.
“We sincerely apologise to everyone who felt uncomfortable seeing our milk advertising video uploaded on Seoul Milk’s official YouTube channel, November 29.
“We are taking the matter seriously and will take more careful measures to prevent similar problems from occurring in the future.
“We once again bow our heads and apologize to all consumers who felt uncomfortable with this advertisement.”
