"Bought 20 bottles of water for 0 won"—from ditching Coupang to praising "God-pang"? Sweeter reviews roll in over Coupang coupons

[Financial News] After Coupang began issuing 50,000-won coupons per person on the 15th to 37.7 million customers who received notification of a massive personal data breach, public reactions have shifted compared with before.
Some users say daily necessities and food deliveries are effectively being sold at close to "zero" won and have started calling the company "God-pang"—a complimentary nickname for Coupang—while civic groups argue the compensation coupons are nothing more than a sales tactic, urging people to refuse the coupons and "ditch Coupang."
Starting at 10 a.m. on the 15th, Coupang displayed a notice reading "We are giving you a purchase voucher" on its app and PC screens and began issuing the vouchers. Customers who confirmed they were eligible could download the Coupang purchase vouchers. In detail, there are four types: a 5,000-won coupon usable on all Coupang products, a 5,000-won coupon for Coupang Eats, a 20,000-won coupon for Coupang Travel, and a 20,000-won coupon for R.LUX beauty and fashion.

Afterward, online communities and social networking services (SNS) were flooded with posts saying that, once the vouchers are applied, users can purchase daily necessities at prices close to free.
Verification posts also appeared claiming that when the purchase vouchers are automatically applied, essentials such as toilet paper, detergent, wet wipes, bottled water, and instant noodles can be bought for anywhere from 0 won to just a few hundred won.
As examples like "20 bottles of 500 ml bottled water for 0 won" and "five-pack of instant noodles for 300 won" were shared, the reaction was overwhelmingly positive, with comments such as "Thank you, God-pang," "At this point it really is God-pang," and "A 5,000-won coupon voucher—love you, God-pang, I’ll be loyal to the end."

The response to the Coupang Eats purchase vouchers has also been favorable. With a whole pizza available for around 3,000 won and dishes like bibim-naengmyeon and coffee drinks listed in the 4,000-won range, reviews poured in saying, "I got a full meal without worrying about delivery fees."
One netizen even posted a review titled "Having actually used the coupon, Coupang really is taking a loss." This user wrote, "(Through Coupang Travel) I got an 80% discount on an Everland free-pass ticket," adding, "A hot-deal-level bargain for 5,000 won—this is God-pang itself."


By contrast, civic groups and some consumers argue that Coupang’s purchase vouchers do not constitute true "compensation." They contend that, in a situation where personal data have been leaked, providing vouchers that can only be used for purchases—without cash compensation or any real choice—is a way of evading responsibility.
Members of Joint Action for a Safer Coupang held a press conference in front of Coupang’s headquarters that morning, insisting, "Coupons that induce consumption are nothing more than a sales tactic." They announced that they would launch a campaign to reject the compensation plan by not using the purchase vouchers.
Online as well, posts appeared saying things like, "They’re trying to cover up their responsibility for the data leak with shopping," and "Is it better to use the coupons to hit Coupang where it hurts, or to ignore them altogether?"
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter