There’s No K in Cruelty

KCON is CJ Group’s crown jewel, a massive celebration of Korean culture that the corporation organizes to grow its popular brands like bibigo and Olive Young. That made it the perfect place to ask a simple question: why is CJ Group still profiting from cruelty?

Over one weekend in August, animal lovers showed up in force. Thousands of leaflets were handed out. A professional K-Pop dance crew, Rūts Dance Studio, danced outside the convention. Hundreds of conversations were had with curious attendees. Pavement tags and wheat-pasted posters surrounded the convention center, making the campaign impossible to ignore.

When the convention tried to shut us out—securing a permit to block happenings or demonstrations on the entire block—our team adapted on the fly, finding creative ways to keep the message front and center. CJ Group even instructed convention staff not to engage with us and changed how they formed entry lines on Day Two. But none of it worked. The message got through.

Influencers amplified the call

This campaign reached far beyond the LA convention floor. Korean-American influencer Nick Cho (@YourKoreanDad), with 3.9 million followers across platforms, posted videos and stories about the campaign and showed up at KCON in person, bringing the issue directly to millions of people outside the traditional animal protection space.

TV personality Kevin Kreider, of Bling Empire and Traitors, powerfully amplified the issue, creating content from the ground and sharing the campaign with his 600,000+ followers.

And across the globe, earlier that month, influencers in the UK staged a powerful visual stunt at H Mart in Korea Town, with posts reaching hundreds of thousands more. They simultaneously opened black umbrellas that “rained down” blood-red biodegradable confetti that they positioned forward to spell END CAGES as, nearby, posters wheatpasted all around H MART called out bibigo in English and Korean. Illustrator Wednesday Holmes, grunge influencer Pop, sustainable lifestyle creator Nicole Whittle, Lucie Johnson of Ugly Vegan, comedian and musician Charlotte Foxx, Brighton-based influencer Luisa-Christie, and fashionista Adeline Vining took part in the activation, while actress Georgia Meacham called out bibigo for its cruelty.

All told, collaborator posts have already generated over 244,000 views on Instagram and TikTok, with more content still to come.

The pressure is building, and the world is watching

Media outlets from South Korea to the UK have taken notice. BusinessKorea published a feature story detailing why CJ Group’s commitment is critical not just for the company but for the entire South Korean food industry. “For CJ Group, which is currently expanding its territory into various parts of the Americas, Europe, and Asia driven by the recent K-Food craze,” journalist Lee Kwang-soo writes, “adopting an animal welfare policy that aligns with global standards is a task that can no longer be delayed. This is because local consumers overseas and global investment institutions are strictly verifying not only the taste and quality of products but also the ethical responsibility and environmental sustainability in the production process.” With a legal ban on the smallest battery cages set to take effect in South Korea in 2027, Lee notes that “the eyes of the industry and financial sectors are focused on what kind of progressive countermeasures and roadmaps CJ Group, the number one domestic food company, will present.”

CJ Group has the innovation, the global reach, and the cultural influence to lead the cage-free transition across Asia. A commitment from CJ wouldn’t just spare millions of hens from suffering—it would set a powerful precedent for the entire Asian region, where nearly 70% of the world’s laying hens are housed.

Tell CJ Group to commit to a global cage-free egg policy and end cruel cages.