A CGV multiplex in Yeouido. This image is not directly related to the article. [CGV]
A CGV multiplex in Yeouido. This image is not directly related to the article. [CGV]

Complaints are mounting against CGV, one of South Korea's largest multiplex chains, after moviegoers reported that seat dyes stained their clothing — prompting warnings to avoid wearing white to the cinema.

Social media posts on X (formerly Twitter) and other platforms began circulating earlier this month, with users describing how their clothes had taken on a faint pinkish tint around the waist after sitting in CGV seats. One post read: "Every time I go to the movies, the waist area of my clothes gets slightly stained a light pink — could that really happen just from sitting for a long time?" Another said: "I watched the baseball All-Star Game at CGV and the seat color bled onto my clothes. I wore them for the first time on Tuesday."

A user identified only as A posted a photo showing the back of a white garment stained red after watching the baseball All-Star Game at a CGV location in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, on July 11. "If you wore white to the All-Star Game at CGV, check your clothes right now," the post read. "They're probably ruined from dye transfer."

Replies to the post included similar accounts. "That must be why there was a dye-transfer warning at the entrance," one user wrote. Another said: "I had the same problem at a different location — when I showed proof of purchase, they compensated me minus a depreciation deduction."

A told a media outlet Tuesday that after filing a complaint with CGV's customer service center, the company said it would cover only 80 percent of the clothing's value. "It was the first time I had worn the clothes after buying them," she said. "Isn't this CGV's fault for causing the dye transfer?"

A added that her bag had also been stained during the same visit, but she had already washed it and was not seeking separate compensation for it.

CGV plans to replace all seat covers at the branch where the staining incidents occurred.


jshan@heraldcorp.com