"‘Free Lecture’ Turns into 1 Hour of Sangjo Promotion? ... Angry Women Say 'Feeling Deceived'"

Lecture Organizer: "We Will Specify Sponsor Promotion Time"

"I went expecting a free lecture, but all I got was a ton of promotional material for a funeral service company."

Recently, Mr. A, who attended a free lecture hosted by a famous psychiatrist, recalled the day of the lecture with this complaint.

Mr. A, who lives in Changwon, Gyeongnam, said he was very disappointed after attending a free lecture organized by a certain company with his acquaintance, Mr. B.

According to Mr. A and others, the company travels nationwide offering various free lectures and cultural classes targeting women.

Mr. A applied for the lecture with Mr. B after seeing high satisfaction ratings and reviews posted on the organizer’s website.

There was a notice stating that the lecture would include "a sponsor promotion time," but they expected the promotional part to be shorter than the lecture time.

A post about a free lecture including sponsor promotion posted on an internet cafe.

However, on the day of the lecture, the two gave up and left the venue.

The lecture, which was supposed to run from 10:20 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., had not even started by noon.

After a recreational time designed to encourage participation by offering coupons for a famous franchise cafe, the sponsor’s funeral service company promotion continued well past noon.

Mr. A and Mr. B left abruptly after the promotion, which included videos and presentation materials, showed no sign of ending, and they were asked to fill out funeral service subscription forms with pens handed out at the entrance.

Mr. A said, "No matter that it was a free lecture, how can it not even start for almost two hours out of three? I didn’t come here to hear about various funeral services and cruise trips offered upon subscription. This is just too much."

"I immediately complained to the organizers, but they barely listened and kept trying to push us out of the lecture hall," he added. "While I was protesting, the director who was supposed to give the lecture arrived, and seeing that he was involved in this made me lose respect for him as well."

Mr. B said, "I usually have a strong interest in mental health and psychology, so I applied for the lecture, but I was extremely disappointed and upset." He raised his voice, saying, "They kept pushing us to sign up by emphasizing discounts as if it were a special sale. Isn’t this a sales tactic using free lectures as bait?"

"Several people left the lecture hall in a line behind us," he added. "They played videos that made us think about our parents’ final moments to make us cry, and then handed out subscription forms. It felt awful. We came to listen to a lecture, not to visit a funeral service company’s promotional booth."

The two agreed, "Even if the lecture includes sponsor promotions, we never expected it to last this long. If they had said upfront that the promotion would take several hours, we would have considered it before deciding to attend. Just saying it includes promotion is misleading."

"If only we complained, people might think we were mistaken, but others who left after us and many on mom cafes and blogs expressed the same dissatisfaction," they said. "After all the effort to invite a lecturer and prepare a free lecture, they need to improve the situation where sponsor promotions cause complaints."

Free lecture information posted on the organizer's website (left) and lecture reviews.

A representative of the organizer said, "Usually, the schedule consists of about one hour of recreation, one hour of sponsor promotion, and one and a half hours of lecture, but the sponsor promotion time can vary depending on attendees’ understanding and questions."

He explained, "There are many variables such as the atmosphere on site and the lecturer’s transportation situation, so it is difficult to provide a detailed time breakdown. Even if we roughly specify the time, some complain about not sticking exactly to it, so we only announce the start and end times."

"We do not disclose the time breakdown on the website or messages, but we provide it to those who inquire," he added.

He continued, "We informed attendees in advance that the free lecture includes sponsor promotion time, and the sponsor promotes special sale products for attendees on the day. Some feel the promotion time is long, but most are satisfied," he defended.

The representative said, "Since the lecture is provided free with sponsor support, sponsor promotion time is included, but the lecture is not held to sell products." He added, "We will discuss with headquarters, sponsors, and staff to improve the adjustment of promotion time and the advance disclosure of approximate time breakdown."

"Although it is a free lecture, we strive to maintain content and quality comparable to paid lectures and will continue to do so," he said. "We apologize to attendees who took precious time to come but were upset by the unexpectedly long sponsor promotion."

The day after the interview, a message arrived from the organizer stating, "We summarized the issue and reported it to higher-ups, and agreed with the sponsor to specify the promotion time more clearly."

The representative added, "There may be other inconveniences during the process, but we consider it our responsibility to address and resolve them. We appreciate the valuable feedback."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.