Seo Taiji fans demand cancellation of ads

Seo Taiji fans are pressuring companies to cease advertisements following an allegedly biased report on Seo Taiji on SBS's "Entertainment Tonight." Advertisements are gradually being cancelled before and after the program.

This is the first time that advertisements linked to a program have been cancelled due to the protests of an entertainer's fans. One of the advertisers, Pacific Corporation, accepted the request by Seo Taiji fans to pull its advertising and the company's Laneige commercials will stop running starting Oct. 8. An official from Pacific Corporation remarked that the company had received more than 200 letters and after an evaluation determined that the requests were not merely criticisms of a certain program. Hence, the decision to pull the commercials was made.

Another advertiser, Nong Shim, also decided to cancel its commercials on Nov. 2. Crown Bakery and Etude have also decided to cease ads.

The program dealt with anti-entertainer trends on Oct. 26 and reported movements against HOT, FIN.K.L and other famous singers and groups. After the program, Seo Taiji fans demanded that advertisers cease running ads due to the biased reporting on the singer.

In relation to this matter, the program manager asked for a fair judgment on whether the program was biased.

Kang Sue-Jean sjkang@donga.com