A photo of letters for his fans and a condom pack posted by Eric from The Boyz / Screen capture from Instagram

Convenience, a Korean pleasure product company that also goes by the name BRSG, apologized on Monday for its products that apparently caused a K-pop star to publicly embarrass himself on Pepero Day.

Pepero Day, which falls on Nov. 11 in Korea, encourages consumers to purchase Pepero stick snacks made by Lotte Wellfood and share them with friends or loved ones.

Eric, a member of boy band The Boyz, uploaded on Instagram a photo of written letters he wrote for his fans to celebrate Pepero Day. Next to the letters was a box of BRSG's condoms, which resembled a box of Pepero at an initial glance.

The photo went viral online and later was taken down from Instagram. Eric later that day admitted he mistook the condom product “Love Day 11.11” for Pepero and apologized to his fans for confounding them.

Eric of The Boyz

“It was among other Peperos at a convenience store near my residence. So I was certain it was Pepero as well,” Eric wrote on Instagram.

BRSG had planned and manufactured Love Day in partnership with GS Retail which operates GS25, the country's second-largest convenience store brand. The collaboration produced the condoms in limited quantities to celebrate this year's Pepero Day.

Following the incident, BRSG later on Monday posted an apology on Instagram, defending Eric's innocence. The company held its “too cute, too adorable condom sets” entirely responsible for the incident.

The company explained that the Love Day product packaging design is unlike conventional condom packaging because it wanted to inform consumers that condoms should not be perceived negatively as an immoral product. The strategy was to make them appear more relatable and mainstream.

“Love Day isn't for adults. It's a medical apparatus specially made for teenagers,” BRSG said. “We wish that everyone through this incident has learned about the importance of protection in having a healthy sex life.”

BRSG previously released condom packs to resemble packaging for instant coffee sticks, ketchup and hot sauce in collaboration with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency in 2019.