A women's group is requesting the takedown of the '2016 Election Awareness Campaign' ads featuring popular idol star AOA's Seolhyun.
With the election coming up in Korea on April 13, the Central Election Management Committee ran a series of ads starring Seolhyun to promote election awareness and voting, but it looks like many found the ads problematic. According to the Korean Women's Association, the ads are discriminatory in nature against women and youth.
In one ad, Seolhyun applies essence lotion and turns around to say, "Unni, you're so careful about picking out your essence," while in another she holds up a phone, saying, "Oppa, you choose smartphones so well." Both end with the suggestion the viewer should be pay more attention to voting for their officials.
In the final ad, a family sits around waiting for Seolhyun to show up for her mom's birthday. All the while, her older brothers chastise her for supposedly missing the important day though she does show up in the end.
The Korean Women's Association is asserting that the first ad starts with the premise that women are uninterested in politics or anything that doesn't involve their appearance. The group also stated that the family ad paints women as naturally selfish and ignorant or unaware voters, especially with the way Seolhyun is portrayed and the way her onscreen brothers disparage her.
The association further stated the all the ads are discriminatory against youth as they suggest youth as irresponsible individuals who would be more interested in picking out a lotion or smartphone but claim they're too busy to vote in the election.
However, the Central Election Management Committee has officially stated, "The ads were not created with the intent to be discriminatory against women. We don't plan to make additional statements."
What do you think of the ads?
With the election coming up in Korea on April 13, the Central Election Management Committee ran a series of ads starring Seolhyun to promote election awareness and voting, but it looks like many found the ads problematic. According to the Korean Women's Association, the ads are discriminatory in nature against women and youth.
In one ad, Seolhyun applies essence lotion and turns around to say, "Unni, you're so careful about picking out your essence," while in another she holds up a phone, saying, "Oppa, you choose smartphones so well." Both end with the suggestion the viewer should be pay more attention to voting for their officials.
In the final ad, a family sits around waiting for Seolhyun to show up for her mom's birthday. All the while, her older brothers chastise her for supposedly missing the important day though she does show up in the end.
The Korean Women's Association is asserting that the first ad starts with the premise that women are uninterested in politics or anything that doesn't involve their appearance. The group also stated that the family ad paints women as naturally selfish and ignorant or unaware voters, especially with the way Seolhyun is portrayed and the way her onscreen brothers disparage her.
The association further stated the all the ads are discriminatory against youth as they suggest youth as irresponsible individuals who would be more interested in picking out a lotion or smartphone but claim they're too busy to vote in the election.
However, the Central Election Management Committee has officially stated, "The ads were not created with the intent to be discriminatory against women. We don't plan to make additional statements."
What do you think of the ads?
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