LG's foot-wash ads got pulled for a misandry row — then the apology drew a women's boycott

In February 2025, LG Household & Health Care's On the Body brand contracted a female influencer with roughly 295,000 X followers to post a user-review ad for its '발을씻자' (wash-your-feet) foot cleanser. She uploaded the sponsored post on 7 February.

Five days later the ad was deleted. The influencer had once written that men under 160cm in height should not receive blind-date introductions, and when that old post resurfaced, male netizens began calling for an LG boycott. LG withdrew the contract and, on 12 February, the brand's X account said it had noticed the community posts and, 'in surprise, after consulting the account, deleted the ad the same day'. It also posted an apology on the customer-centre board, stating it opposed any form of instigating conflict through social hatred, prejudice or discrimination.

The apology did not calm things down. Female communities launched a separate boycott, arguing that LG had responded only to the male-bashing complaint and was ignoring its own female customers, who made up the core purchasers of the product. Boycott lists and recommendations for competitor foot cleansers spread online.

Analysts pointed to the pattern as a symptom of rising gender sensitivity among Z-generation consumers, and warned that marketing aimed at either gender now needed far more pre-screening of partners and messaging.