Korean Furniture Company Under Fire For Using Itaewon Incident For Promotion… But Here’s The Real Truth Behind The Matter
With the tragic Itaewon Halloween incident, many are cruelly capitalizing on the matter. A post by someone who claimed to be Jenvrin Luxury Furniture Outlet Store, a business located in Itaewon, went viral for allegedly using the tragedy to promote their business.
On October 29, an estimated 100,000 people gathered in Itaewon to celebrate Halloween. During the celebrations, people ended up trapped in the middle of a crowd surge in a narrow alley. Many people began to suffocate and suffer from cardiac arrest, with the death toll in the hundreds and thousands reported missing.
A day later, @GaguAulles on Twitter was flamed for “using the tragedy to promote their business.”
I see that a human crush accident occurred in Itaewon. May the victims rest in peace. Jenvrin plans to donate funds to the victims of the tragedy as well. And to commemorate the opening of our Twitter account, we are also running some [discount] events.
— @GaguAulles
After the post began to circulate and receive hate, the account continued to explain that things weren’t going as planned.
I’m sorry, but you guys are cursing me out, despite what I originally meant. I simply expressed my sorriness towards the human crush accident in Itaewon while letting people know about my Twitter opening event… And I’m going to deliver donations too. What are you guys going to do? Looks like Twitter ain’t it. I won’t be promoting here. But let me say something. I was just talking about my opening event as a separate thing from the accident. So just, what is the problem? As I’ll be donating to the victims, I’m better than you guys who are just tapping away at your keyboards in the corner of your room. You guys are cursing at me, but anyway, I don’t feel attacked.
— @GaguAulles
The post spread to other community sites and Jenvrin received much hate overnight.
In a twist of events, it turned out that someone had been impersonating Jenvrin Luxury Furniture Outlet Store. The actual owner of the store heard about the commotion and quickly created a Twitter account to clarify the matter.
안녕하세요⁰쟝브렝가구 입니다⁰우선 빠르게 수습하기 위해서 태어나서 처음으로 뜨 위터 계정을 만들었습니다.새벽에 저희를 사칭해서 이태원 압사사건을 빌미로 기념 이벤트라는 말도 안 되는 글을 올려서 현재 많은 피해를 입고 있습니다⁰저희가 올린 게시글이 아니라는 점 말씀을 먼저 드립니다 pic.twitter.com/NXegpLRjVY
— 쟝브렝가구 (@jenvrin0000) October 29, 2022
Hello. This is Jenvrin Furniture. Firstly, I quickly made a Twitter account for the first time in my life in order to correct the situation. During the hours of dawn, someone impersonated us and uploaded an unbelievable post about an opening event while dragging in the Itaewon human crush accident, causing us to receive lots of damage. We’d like to first point out that it was not us who made that post.
— @jenvrin0000
Even after their clarification, many hate posts still have not yet been deleted. The owner of Jenvrin was duly incensed about the matter and even made a police report for cyber crime.
제보받았습니다
아직도내려지지않은글이많습니다
계속올리면서기다려주세요
제가다화끈거립니다
난생처음보는사이트입니다
저는인터넷상에서한번도댓글조차달아본적이없습니다.선처는없습니다 pic.twitter.com/h54ebahpDm— 쟝브렝가구 (@jenvrin0000) October 30, 2022
I received a tip-off. There are still many posts that are not being removed. Please wait while continuing to upload (the truth). I’m so angry. This is a site I’m seeing for the first time ever. I’ve never even wrote an internet comment in my entire life. I won’t be settling [with the perpetrator].
— @jenvrin0000
After Jenvrin filed a lawsuit, the perpetrator eventually folded and uploaded an apology.
This is an apology regarding Jenvrin Furniture Luxury Outlet Store which received damages due to impersonation. I’m so sorry once more.
— @qqqopiuou
'쟝브렝 가구 유명가구 아울렛'을 사칭해 피해를 입힌 것에 대한 사과문입니다. 다시 한번 정말 죄송합니다. pic.twitter.com/tAtix2gNSO
— . (@qqqopiuou) October 30, 2022
[Apology]
Hello. On October 30, 2022, around 2 am, I impersonated Jenvrin Furniture Luxury Outlet Store, using the Itaewon human crush accident. I wrote a post that would get chewed out under the guise of promotion and caused the store to receive damage.
I’m writing an apology post a day after the matter as I am very sorry and deeply regretful for maliciously making use of the sad accident, as well as impersonating Jenvrin, leading them to receive damage.
I acknowledge that it is my fault 100%, and I will diligently participate in the investigations and pay for my crime. I’m so sorry.
I’m so sorry.
— @qqqopiuou
The motivation behind the impersonator’s crime has yet to be made known.