Plastic Surgery Ads to Disappear from Subways

Plastic surgery ads will disappear from Seoul Subway stations from 2020. Seoul Metro said Monday it is banning plastic surgery ads in subway stations and keeping some 40 stations free from all commercial ads.

The goal is to improve the city brand by increasing ads for cultural and artistic events and reducing purely commercial ones, especially for services that are deemed somehow unsavory.

Seoul Metro plans not to renew plastic surgery ad contracts when they expire. On Subway line Nos. 1 and 2 the existing contracts expire in 2020, on Nos. 5 through 8 in 2021, and on Nos. 3 and 4 in 2022.

Of all 1,182 complaints about subway ads last year, a whopping 1,080 involved plastic surgery and women.

Seoul Metro is already removing or relocating commercial ads from 10 subway stations, including Seoul City Hall, Gyeongbok Palace, and Anguk. If things go on as planned, the number of commercial ads in subway stations will be reduced from the current 143,000 to 121,000 in 2022.

"We're going to replace subway commercial ads with cultural, artistic, and public services ads even if we have to endure a drop in revenues," a Seoul Metro official said.