(Observer News) "For a girl from the countryside who is still confused about the situation, let her become addicted to beef rice when she is still a pure girl (cowboy poisoning にする)..."
According to NHK and many other Japanese media reports, Masaaki Ito, managing director of Yoshinoya, a well-known Japanese beef rice chain brand, made inappropriate remarks in a marketing lecture at Waseda University on the 16th, calling Yoshinoya's marketing strategy for young women "a strategy to let pure girls get addicted to drugs."
The incident caused many Japanese netizens to angrily criticize, and the Yoshinoya officially issued an apology statement on the 18th, saying that Ito Masaaki's remarks were "extremely inappropriate" and "from the perspective of human rights and gender, they are intolerable." Yoshinoya said the company was discussing the executive's disposition. Waseda University also apologized for the incident and said it was considering dismissing Masaaki Ito.
Yoshinoya Infographic
According to the report, Masaaki Ito is the managing director of the Yoshinoya family and the head of the planning department. Waseda University in Japan recently held a marketing lecture for the public, and Masaaki Ito was invited to teach as a lecturer. It is reported that the lecture was held 29 times, and the cost of the lecture was as high as 385,000 yen (about 19,513 yuan).
On April 16, Masaaki Ito made inappropriate remarks for the first time giving a lecture.
In his lectures, he referred to Yoshinoya's marketing for young women as "a strategy to infect pure girls with drug addiction (をシャブ漬け戦略)" and that "for girls from the countryside who do not understand the situation, let her beef rice become addicted when she is a pure girl." If it comes to the stage where men can invite guests to eat high-end food, they will never eat (beef rice) again. ”
Masaaki Ito Image source: Japanese media
Masaaki Ito's remarks were posted by the students on social media, triggering the anger of many Japanese netizens, and related topics rushed to the trend hot search list of The Twitter region in Japan.
"The Yoshino family's 'strategy of infecting pure girls with drug addiction' is surprising and has no conduct."
"There must be a limit to looking down on people... The contemptuous attitude toward consumers within Yoshino can no longer be concealed. ”
It has been pointed out that this is not a personal problem of Masaaki Ito, but of the entire Yoshinoya company. "It is doubtful that this is the first time this kind of remark has appeared. He thought the metaphor was good, which is why he said it in a lecture. It is estimated that he often says this within Yoshino, and allowing such remarks to exist is the problem of the company itself. ”
Others say that Masaaki Ito insulted not only women, but also all consumers. "Knowing about the Yoshino family today, it goes without saying that he is a terrible misogyny. The managing director also said that beef rice bowls are for countrymen who don't know how to eat food, and they will not eat them again when they know something delicious. This made me very uncomfortable, and the jiniu that I had eaten well before became a pill for the poor. He treats customers and rural people like fools. ”
Someone said disappointedly: "Every corner of society is like this, this is the 'japanese norm'." Now when I hear about Yoshinoya, all I have is a 'dirty feeling'. ”
On April 18, Yoshinoya issued an official apology statement, calling Ito's remarks "extremely inappropriate" and apologizing for the distress and unpleasantness caused.
"From a human rights and gender perspective, the language and expressions used by managers in lectures are extremely inappropriate and intolerable," the statement reads. "We apologize for the many troubles and unpleasantness caused to Yoshinoya's customers."
The statement also said that Masaaki Ito himself apologized for his remarks, and he apologized in writing to the organizers on the second day of the lecture, and will apologize again in person later. Yoshino's internal punishment of Masaaki Ito is also being discussed.
Affected by this incident, the Yoshinoya also canceled the new product launch of the parent-child beef rice that was scheduled for April 19. Japanese media reported that it took Yoshinoya about 10 years to develop this new product, and now that the new product conference is over, this product can only be quietly sold on the shelves.
In an interview with Japanese media, a publicist at Waseda University acknowledged that "some of the lecturers' speeches contained inappropriate remarks that were considered sexist and human rights violations" and apologized for the incident. Waseda also said the school is currently considering firing Masaaki Ito.
Yoshinoya's apology statement
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