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Apple quietly removes controversial hand gesture from Korean iPhone advertisement

Published: 11 Sep. 2025, 21:40 Updated: 12 Sep. 2025, 15:51

KIM MIN-YOUNG
[email protected]

YouTube thumbnails of new iPhone Air advertisements; the Korean version lacks fingers [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Apple introduced its thinnest-ever smartphone, the iPhone 17 Air, at a launch event in Cupertino, California, on Tuesday, while quietly altering its marketing images in Korea to preempt controversy.

The new model measures just 5.6 millimeters (0.22 inches) thick — 0.2 millimeters thinner than Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S25 Edge, released in May — and weighs 165 grams (5.8 ounces). Apple CEO Tim Cook called the device “a game changer.”

To emphasize its slim design, Apple released an image showing the phone pinched delicately between two fingers. The ad appeared on Apple’s websites in the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Britain and France. But in Korea, the phone appeared alone, with no fingers in sight.

Industry analysts say the Korea-only change reflects Apple’s attempt to avoid a cultural flashpoint.

The pinching hand gesture, known as jibgeson or “crab hand,” has been adopted by radical "antimale" groups as a mocking symbol suggesting that Korean men have small genitals. The gesture has repeatedly triggered consumer boycotts in Korea when it has surfaced in games, webtoons and advertisements.

A person holds an iPhone Air during Apple's ″Awe-Dropping″ event at the Steve Jobs Theater at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on Sept. 9. [AFP/YONHAP]

Game publisher Nexon took down a promotional video for its online game MapleStory in 2023 after a character appeared to use the crab hand gesture. The game company made another graphic adjustment to the same game in 2024 after users complained that a character’s hand seemed to resemble the pinching motion.

Similarly, Naver Webtoon faced criticism last year after an Instagram post about its Webtoon Friends merchandise displayed the same hand sign.

Steelmaker Posco also came under fire late 2023 for using the pinching gesture in the company’s animated recruitment video and took the video down after it went viral among male-centered online communities.

“Because men make up a large share of consumers for IT devices and games, companies are sensitive to their reactions,” one industry insider said. “Apple likely wanted to avoid any potential controversy in Korea from the start.”

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]