Apple Circumcises Its South Korean iPhone Ads

Because there’s nothing less lucrative than pissing off men.

By Danielle Han  |  September 12, 2025 | 3:12pm
Photo: Apple Entertainment
Apple Circumcises Its South Korean iPhone Ads

What screams small-dick energy? Some will say shoe size. Most will say insecurity. Apparently, South Korean men would say iPhone ads.

On Tuesday, Apple announced its newest product, the iPhone 17, featuring new colors, better cameras, and a slim variation of the worst almond-mom dreams. To flaunt the phone’s svelte figure, Apple released a bunch of different ads displaying the phone mid-air, side-by-side with other objects, and, in some cases, being pinched by two fingers. Because nothing texts as good as skinny feels.

Users were quick to notice that among international ads, those “pinching” fingers were removed from ones in South Korea. Some were especially eager to explain that in the country–allegedly home to some of the smallest phallus sizes–the gesture can be offensive and, er, imply poor endowment. And there’s nothing less lucrative than pissing off men.

The precaution is, admittedly, kind of funny. But it also points to the country’s deep-seated antifeminist and incel culture, where angry young men are fighting for what they say is “true gender equality,” and railing against feminism, something they believe is a “dirty word.” (I’d pay good money to see what happens if they visit Jezebel dot com.)

Companies are especially scared of being accused of mocking these, uh, members of society. In 2021, a convenience-store advertisement depicting a doodled hand pinching a tiny sausage infuriated reams of the country’s young men, who purported it mocked their little dicklets. That same year, a video game had to delist the “OK” emoji (👌) after being accused of doing the same. Since then, over 20 brands and government organizations have revised their content and apologized for hurting these men’s sensitive feelings. So Apple, it seems, was taking a pretty wise precaution.

Still, pandering to the anti-feminine male gaze doesn’t bode well for the state of feminism in South Korea and it’s no wonder that amid all the animosity, the country is facing a profound male loneliness epidemic. The South Korea-originated 4B movement, which encourages women to take on an anti-marriage, anti-childbirth, anti-dating, and anti-sex life, even made waves in the U.S. in 2024, following the results of the presidential election.

Personally, I’d love to know exactly how the conversation between Apple’s marketing department and its South Korea team went down—and just how the firm was told to tweak its advertising strategy. Moreover, I’d love to know exactly who brought it up. After all, I’m sure it was a hard decision.

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