When is a sausage just a sausage? Controversial ads fuel S.Korea’s sexism debate

SEOUL, May 28 – This month three South Korean companies and the Seoul police have had to pull ads and other content after men’s rights groups claimed that “small penis” symbols were used, insulting men.

The offending images? Hands with the thumbs and the index fingers pinching towards each other illustrating the reaching out for an object. But the gesture is also often used to indicate something small in size and in South Korea, it is associated with a strident, albeit now defunct, feminist group that used the image in its logo. Exacerbating the problem, one ad and a menu involved were also advertising sausages.