W Korea's breast-cancer gala became a celebrity drinking party — and an apology

On October 15, 2025, W Korea held the 20th edition of Love Your W, its breast cancer awareness campaign event, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul. Around 90 celebrities attended — and almost immediately the event was condemned as a celebrity drinking party: alcohol, performances and social-media challenges, with hardly a pink ribbon or cancer-awareness message in sight.

The criticism cut three ways. The format ignored patients and families; singer Jay Park performed a song whose lyrics objectify women's bodies and had to apologise separately; and a lawmaker's figures showing ₩315M donated through 2024 made a 20-year charity gala look thin. W Korea replied that cumulative donations were ₩960M, with ₩150M more planned — but the gap between cause and party was already the story.

Four days later, on October 19, the magazine apologised on Instagram, deleted the event's photos and videos, and promised to re-examine the planning and execution of its events from start to finish. The campaign it had run since 2006 to promote early screening became a case study in cause marketing that forgot the cause.