#Last October, a free talk show featuring former golfer Park Se-ri was held at a hotel in Incheon. As it was indicated that 'only women can enter,' most of the audience was filled with housewives in their 50s and 60s. Those waiting for Park Se-ri's lecture suddenly had to listen to the promotion of Boram Memorial Services. The promotion lasted about two hours. Although the organizers explained that it was like an 'advertisement' from a sponsor since it was a free event, the time allocated for advertisements from the memorial service company was actually longer than the following lecture. After the product explanation by a staff member of the memorial service company ended, membership applications were distributed in the audience. Participant A noted, "I thought it was a free event, so I shouldn't complain, but I couldn't shake the feeling that 'it was a waste of time.'
#Last month, a free talk concert by star lecturer Kim Chang-ok was held at Sookmyung Women's University in Yongsan, Seoul. Named a 'Healing Concert', this event also allocated 1 hour and 20 minutes of the total 3-hour duration for the promotion of The People Life, a memorial service company. Participant B said, "I think more than half of the people sitting there signed up," adding, "They explained that you would get special benefits if you signed up immediately, making it feel very tense.
On the 6th, according to ChosunBiz reporting, it has recently become common for memorial service companies to attract customers in unconventional ways. A representative behavior is luring housewives by holding 'free talk shows' featuring celebrities and dedicating more time to advertising and encouraging membership for these companies than the actual lecture time.
Such free talk shows primarily feature famous athletes, star lecturers, comedians, and broadcasters as speakers. However, these lectures are scheduled at the very end of the event, while promoting the memorial service company to participants for about 1 to 2 hours while they wait. During this process, the memorial service companies promote by saying, "Signing a contract today is a very good opportunity" with "special discounts," or they discourage signing up by stating, "Unfortunately, there are only 0 contracts available per person" and "If you don't apply immediately, you'll suffer significant losses."
After the long 'promotion' ends, it is said that the memorial service companies distribute membership applications. Talk show participants commented that while they found this way of attracting customers absurd, they felt an unavoidable atmosphere to sign up. Housewife Kim, in her 60s, stated, "I went because a star lecturer was coming, but I had no idea it was a promotion for a memorial service company," adding, "They mentioned, 'You can cancel your membership within two weeks,' and appealed for membership based on recognition.
However, signing up was easy, and canceling was cumbersome. Park, 31, whose mother signed up after attending a related event told, "She asked me to help cancel because she didn't know how to cancel," explaining that "By just filling in my child's name and card number, I was signed up without any personal verification procedure, and I found out later that I was signed up in my name." Park added, "When I tried to cancel, I was told to visit the customer service branch or call a representative, but it was hard to reach a representative, which made me anxious.
The target demographic for this approach seems to be primarily 'middle-aged and elderly women'. They advertise 'free lectures' through social media platforms like Instagram and blogs, sending text messages to applicants with detailed event schedules. The message clearly stated 'only women can enter.' Such talk shows are being held not just in the Seoul area, but in regions across the country, including Changwon, Gimhae in Gyeongnam, Daegu, and Jeju.
Experts say that such inducement to sign up may have legal issues. Jeong Tae-won, a lawyer from the law firm Pyeongsan who served as a legal advisor to the Fair Trade Commission, stated, "The installment transactions law prohibits disseminating false or exaggerated facts or inducing transactions with deceptive methods, as well as obstructing the retraction of offers or cancellation of contracts," adding, "According to this law or guidelines from the Fair Trade Commission, this could certainly be problematic.
In fact, these talk shows only informed attendees via text message that 'this lecture includes promotional time for sponsors,' and participants stated they had no idea what kind of event it would be until they attended. This could be considered deceptive trade practice.
In previous Fair Trade Commission rulings, it was seen as a 'legal violation' when consumers were lured to specific business locations through distributed free invitations, which only labeled the invitation as 'a free performance accompanied by an overseas travel presentation' without including the phrases 'memorial service products' or 'memorial service services', while selling memorial products during the free performance, which resembles the promotional format of this talk show.
In response, a spokesperson for The People Life stated, "We are marketing lecture alongside company promotions," adding, "We are paying great attention to informing attendees about the memorial service promotion before the event, personally calling confirmed attendees to notify them in advance.
A representative from Boram Memorial Services stated, "Rather than promoting products in a manner that customers do not anticipate during specific events or inducing signing up on the spot, we adhere to the principles of providing sufficient information for careful judgment and a transparent contract process," further stating, "We will closely examine and improve our marketing methods and subscription procedures to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings by consumers in the future.
The Fair Trade Commission has previously emphasized in this year's work plan that it will establish consumer protection measures by life cycle, including targeting 'memorial service companies' aimed at elderly consumers. However, it has been pointed out that while the Fair Trade Commission is focusing on 'inducing responsible management and preventing deterioration' in the memorial service industry issues it is investigating this year, it must actively engage in crackdowns on illegal business activities and mitigate consumer damage.
A representative from the Fair Trade Commission stated, "We need to examine the specifics of the matter, but if there are issues, we will review the legal violations."