[라이센스뉴스 정재혁 기자] After the’school violence (hakpok)’ of sisters Lee Jae-young and Da-young Lee of the Pink Spiders Volleyball Team of Heungkuk Life Insurance, the storm is intensifying. While the two sisters’ demands for’permanent exit from the volleyball industry’ are rising, there are even claims that they will boycott their parent companies, Heungkuk Life Insurance and Taekwang Group, if they go to a hard discipline.
On the morning of the 12th, a post titled'(Official Declaration) Boycott of Heungkuk Life’ was posted on the’Dish Inside Women’s Volleyball Gallery’, the largest community for women’s volleyball.
The author said, “Exit Twin Xs. He wrote that heungkuk Life’s boycott is going on because people aren’t fools to advocate those who don’t have the basics of sportsmanship.”
Although it is a brief article, the reaction of volleyball fans is hot. The number of views has exceeded 7,000, and the number of’recommendations’, which is a’like’ concept on Facebook or Instagram, is also over 500. Even now, the number of views and recommendations is steadily increasing.
The post was filled with supportive comments such as’I will support the disciplinary level’,’I will stigmatize the insurance image of a ruined gangster’, and’I won’t write it forever, though the product is not very good anyway. Some netizens came up with an alternative saying, “It would be more effective to reject Taekwang Group affiliates than Heungkuk Life Insurance.”
In addition to the volleyball community, comments on’boycott of Heungkuk Life’ are overflowing in articles on portal sites such as Naver. In particular, comments related to boycott have increased significantly since Heungkuk Life’s side revealed the position of the nuance that seems to surround the two sisters, saying, “We need psychological treatment”.
It is pointed out that the corporate image of Heungkuk Life has already fallen to an irrecoverable level, regardless of whether the actual boycott will be realized.
The main reaction of volleyball fans is that it is difficult to regard this incident as simply’a coincidence’, as Heungkuk Life Insurance has already been in trouble several times in operating volleyball teams in the past.
Heungkuk Life Volleyball Team has already been stigmatized as a’problem child’ in the women’s volleyball world due to ▲Kim Yeon-gyeong’s overseas transfer situation ▲ Jeon Min-jung, Jeon Yu-ri’s alleged game manipulation and concealment ▲ Kwak Yu-hwa doping incident.
In the end, such a blow to the image could be fatal to the parent company Heungkuk Life Insurance. Life insurance companies, which have poor product differentiation by company, have no choice but to compete with the company’s brand power and sales power, and the question is whether insurance planners can confidently recommend Heungkuk Life Insurance products.
In this regard, an official in the insurance industry said, “It seems that the boycott itself is not likely to actually occur, but it will be a significant blow in terms of corporate image. It is unlikely that it will adversely affect the company.”