Lee Kyung-sil's Egg Brand 'Wooran' Halts Sales Amid High Price Controversy

Broadcaster Lee Kyung-sil's egg brand 'Wooran' has faced intense public criticism due to discrepancies in shell numbers and pricing, ultimately leading to the closure of its official sales site. The official sales website of Wooran currently displays only the message 'No products for sale.'

The representative of Prestige Mall, which sells the controversial 'Wooran' brand, is reported to be Lee Kyung-sil's son, actor Son Bo-seung.

Discrepancy Between Shell Number '4' and 'Premium Price'

The controversy began on the 16th when comedian Jo Hye-ryun posted on her SNS promoting Lee Kyung-sil's egg product. Jo Hye-ryun praised it, saying, "Lee Kyung-sil's Wooran is the queen among real eggs. It's so delicious," but netizens pointed out that the eggs in the post had a shell number of '4'.

Shell number indicates the rearing environment of the chickens and is categorized from 1 to 4.

• 1: Free-range (highest animal welfare)

• 4: Conventional cage rearing (most crowded method at $0.05\text{㎡}$ per bird)

Wooran sold 30 eggs corresponding to the lowest grade '4' for 15,000 won, which is comparable to or higher than the prices of eggs with higher animal welfare grades of 1 or 2. Consequently, netizens expressed strong dissatisfaction, stating, "Selling shell number 4 at a premium price is unfair," and "It's consumer deception."

Company Responds, "Emphasizing Quality with Medicinal Feed"... Failed to Convince Consumers

The Prestige Mall website was flooded with consumer complaints, particularly with comments like, "You need to explain how it's different from the 4 cage rearing method," and "Responses like 'We raise them with good intentions for animal welfare' are not helpful."

As the controversy escalated, Wooran's side attempted to clarify. The company stated, "The number on the shell is not the standard for pricing," and explained, "We feed the chickens various medicinal ingredients such as turmeric and cordyceps, and the eggs actually contain more than $2\text{㎎}$ of the active ingredient cordycepin per egg."

They continued, "The high price of animal welfare is based on good environments and respect for animals, not on better quality," emphasizing that "The purchasing standard for eggs should be quality, not shell number."

However, consumers reacted, saying, "No matter how good the feed is, if the environment is bad, how can the egg quality be good?" and found it difficult to accept Wooran's claim that prioritizes feed ingredients over rearing environment. As the controversy continued, Jo Hye-ryun and Lee Kyung-sil deleted all related SNS promotional posts.

Lee Kyung-sil, who attempted to transform from comedian to entrepreneur, has suffered significant damage to her business image due to the 'Wooran' controversy, and her future actions are now under scrutiny.