CGV has in the past run various promotional events on April Fools’ Day -- a day internationally infamous for its pranks -- such as offering student rates to anyone who purchased tickets dressed in a school uniform and filling any container brought by moviegoers with popcorn.

“We annually throw original events on Manujeol (April Fools’ Day). This year, we wanted to celebrate the many international cultures, as our CGV theaters are increasingly expanding their presence overseas,” the CGV representative said.

CGV has around 100 movie theaters in China and 97 in Turkey, as well as a locations across Southeast Asian in Vietnam, Indonesia and Myanmar.

However, the event is not being promoted in a language other than Korean. Have a look at http://www.cgv.co.kr/culture-event/event/detail-view.aspx?idx=17720&menu=0.

Intended or not, the event’s brusque, stereotypical portrayal of foreign cultures -- including the implied comparison to Martians -- has garnered criticism from diversity advocates. Some of pointed out that the promotion, for example, implicitly provides incentives for people to wear blackface or mock Indians.

“CGV is actually encouraging and rewarding racist behavior,” wrote a Twitter user at the handle @_Rued_Boy.

“Waiting for April Fool’s Day to see how low Korea can go with this!” wrote @mhwelch1211.

“CGV is having an April Fool‘s event where you get a discount if you ‘act like a foreigner’ with a drawing of a turban and a bindi and facial hair. Why???” wrote @kristinekwak, referencing the event’s poster.

The representative of the movie chain responded to that criticism, saying, “The poster is designed to be funny because it’s an event for April Fools’ Day. The last thing we want to do is mock a culture.”

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)