My Calling Is Profiler [EN]: Chapter 523

“I guess you’ve tried it before?”

“Yes, well. I had no choice.”

“I see.”

A company that handles advertising for Hyunseong Airlines wouldn’t be small. Moreover, Hyunseong Airlines wasn’t a company without incidents, so they would be skilled in dealing with such matters.

“If Hyunseong Airlines has experience, they’ll handle it well.”

“Usually, that’s the case. But Edian’s situation is a bit different.”

“Why is that?”

“There are too many alternatives.”

Hyunseong Airlines is one of the two major airlines in Korea. And the Korean aviation industry operates quite tightly. Even if Hyunseong Airlines faces an issue, the boycott wouldn’t be so damaging as to put them in danger because there are no alternatives.

“But there are cosmetic companies everywhere. Frankly, Edian is a newcomer in the cosmetics industry.”

Since such a company is in this situation, covering it up in that way will inevitably have an impact. In fact, sales have decreased by more than 70%.

“Then what are the other options?”

“That’s…”

Watching Ahn Beom-sang remain silent as if there were no other options, Park Do-joon found it strange.

“There are no other options? It can’t just be pushing it under the rug, can it?”

“Realistically, there are problems…”

“No, aren’t there other options?”

Just off the top of his head, he could think of things like helping the comfort women [women who were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II] who suffered damage in Japan. But to Park Do-joon’s idea, Ahn Beom-sang sighed deeply and said,

“It’s okay in the short term, but it will harm the Hyunseong Group in the long term.”

“Huh? Hyunseong?”

“Because Japan is the problem.”

“Ah~”

Certainly, apologizing while providing donations to the comfort women would alleviate the situation to some extent. The problem with this incident arose because of the Rising Sun Flag [a historical Japanese flag often seen as a symbol of Japanese militarism].

“The problem is that the boycott in Japan is incomparable to the boycott in Korea.”

“Is it that serious?”

“Yes, if the boycott in Korea is simply at the level of ‘Let’s not use this,’ the boycott in Japan is at the level of ‘Anyone who uses this is a non-citizen.'”

“A non-citizen…”

Park Do-joon’s expression turned serious at those words. Not understanding, Jung I-yeon lowered her voice and asked,

“Oppa, is that important?”

“Very important. In Japan, being labeled a non-citizen is like being told to die.”

“Told to die?”

“Yeah.”

Japan is a country where bullying is severe. It’s so severe that even the Japanese prince refuses to go to school because of bullying.

“Japan has a unique group consciousness that solidifies by creating external enemies.”

In other words, in Korea, bullying is an act of some bad students or people tormenting the weak, whereas in Japan, bullying is a process in which the entire organization unites to ostracize a target abandoned by the organization.

“Wow, crazy?”

“The problem arises from there.”

Once labeled a non-citizen, you are no longer a member of the organization. That means you are a target, anyone can attack you with impunity, and there is no reason for the organization to protect you.

“If you’re labeled a non-citizen, you can assume you’ll be treated as less than human until you die.”

“That’s right. And as you know, Japan is extremely sensitive about this comfort women issue.”

“I understand what you mean.”

If Edian were to donate to the comfort women, Japan would latch onto it. Edian is still in a growth phase and doesn’t export to Japan, so there wouldn’t be a problem.

“But Hyunseong is different.”

Considering the nature of the Japanese, they would dig into Edian, and it would quickly become known that its headquarters is Hyunseong.

“Then the boycott would be directed at Hyunseong, which has entered Japan, rather than Edian, which hasn’t.”

“Wow, that’s messed up.”

“It’s messed up. But what can we do when that’s how the Japanese are?”

So, it’s dangerous for Edian to rashly put on a show by donating to the comfort women.

“In that case, there are also cases where it doesn’t work properly.”

“Yes, that’s also a problem.”

“Why?”

“No matter how positively you try to look at it, it’s ultimately a show [meaning a superficial act].”

Even if they try to apologize by making donations, most of the public will think it’s a show. The problem is that it actually is a show.

“Many companies have talked about making donations in the name of goodwill when accidents happen. But most of that was a lie.”

Even if they do, they use all sorts of loopholes to get it back or end up making only minimal donations.

“So, the public won’t see it positively even if they make donations.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, and the comfort women and this situation don’t seem to be related at all. It’s true that they are victims of Japan, but the essence of this incident is that a stupid guy provoked the entire nation.”

Then what problem arises? It’s inevitable that it feels like you’re apologizing to the wrong place when the victims are different people.

“Ah, I see. Like those criminals who apologize only to the judges and prosecutors and not to the victims?”

“Yes, strictly speaking, the comfort women are completely unrelated third parties. They are not the main customer base for cosmetics. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right. Haa.”

Ahn Beom-sang said with a gloomy face.

“Actually, similar incidents are not entirely absent.”

Since the Rising Sun Flag is such a commonly used design pattern, there are many designers who use it. So, the most common method used by such people is an apology to the comfort women.

“But to be honest, it’s not enough to reverse the image.”

It’s just a level of expressing an opinion that we are reflecting. Even that opinion is not believed by others.

“That’s true, but…”

Ahn Beom-sang knows that too. But there is no way to solve it. Advertising is basically a process of making the image better and making the name known, not a process of reflecting.

‘Well, there is something like this.’

Park Do-joon clicked his tongue while looking at the current situation.

‘Should I call it the limit of advertising?’

Advertising is created for the purpose of promoting a good image. Therefore, they don’t know how to improve a bad image.

Many companies have many scandals, and the people who respond to them are mostly people in advertising or public relations. So, their methods are mostly similar.

‘Image offsetting using a good image.’

But in a situation where a bad image is already embedded, it’s almost impossible.

“In this situation, we need to find another way. What people want now is not promotion or good deeds. It’s justice.”

“Justice?”

Ahn Beom-sang tilted his head at the word justice.

“We are a company, though?”

It’s no exaggeration to say that companies live on their image. But justice?

“We don’t have judicial power or anything else, though?”

“Judicial power is not important. Most of the public doesn’t think that systematically.”

What’s wrong is wrong. It has to be fixed.

“But in this situation, companies make many mistakes.”

“What do you mean by many mistakes?”

“They expect oblivion [they hope people will forget].”

“Oblivion?”

“Yes, the Korean’s hot-bloodedness. That’s not wrong.”

They forget over time. It is the most chronic problem of Koreans and the most troublesome problem for Korea to move towards the future.

“Anyway, legally, whatever you do, the punishment is light, and if you keep bringing up dirty stories, the story will only continue for a long time. And as a result, the image gets worse.”

Park Do-joon said that and sighed.

“So, let’s just cover it up. Anyway, the public will completely forget after a month. Isn’t that the basic response?”

Park Do-joon turned his gaze to Ahn Beom-sang and Park Tae-geun. Then everyone’s face turned red. Because that’s the truth. In fact, even after several meetings, the most important opinion was to stay quiet until things calmed down.

“So, let’s just spread a good image and stay quiet, that kind of opinion will come out, right? Isn’t that so?”

“I won’t deny it.”

Everyone nodded at Park Do-joon’s words.

“That’s suicide.”

“Suicide?”

“It’s not reading the public sentiment properly. That’s possible depending on the product.”

“It depends on the product?”

“Yes,”

“What do you think consumption is?”

Ahn Beom-sang tilted his head at those words. Consumption is consumption, what else? But Park Do-joon thought differently.

“Consumption is inertia [a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged].”

“Inertia?”

“Yes,”

Consumers usually continue to consume the same products. For example, if you look at snacks, there are many steady sellers with lifespans of 20 or 30 years.

Every year, dozens of new snacks come out, but most of them are eventually discontinued despite numerous advertisements.

“Why is that? Is it because the new snacks don’t taste good? No. It’s inertia.”

The inertia to return to the familiar. So, a new snack can briefly attract attention and cause a craze, but eventually, people return to the familiar snack.

Promotion is one process to occupy that familiar position.

“If the strategy you just mentioned had happened with a snack like Shrimp Chips, there probably wouldn’t have been a problem.”

Why? Shrimp Chips is a snack that is over 40 years old, and it sits at the top of that inertia. Even if it briefly becomes an issue and is boycotted, people will eventually return to that familiarity.

In fact, the company that makes Shrimp Chips is a company that doesn’t hear good things due to various scandals, and it’s not the first or second time it’s been targeted for a boycott. But it still ranks first in the industry, and Shrimp Chips is also the number one selling snack in the snack industry.

“That familiarity has enough power to overcome the boycott. But what about Edian?”

“Edian is…”

“Frankly, I’ve never even heard of the brand Edian itself.”

Of course, it’s true that Park Do-joon doesn’t know much about cosmetic brands because he’s a man. But apart from that, Edian is actually a new company that is just starting to promote itself.

“What happens if such an Edian is boycotted?”

“Then…”

Ahn Beom-sang, who understood the meaning of those words, turned pale.

“Are you saying that Edian will be boycotted out of inertia?”

“Yes,”

It’s already a difficult situation to fight against a successful target with consumer inertia. But on top of that, people habitually judge Edian as a target for boycott?

“This is scary.”

At first, they may not buy it due to the boycott. But unlike what Edian or Sewon Advertising thinks, even if people forget about this incident over time, a sense of unease will remain in Edian’s products out of inertia.”