Jan 5, 2010
No Niche Unserved — Self-Help Coffins
I’m not making this up. In South Korea, an enterprising entrepreneur has created a “Coffin Academy” where people write their epitaphs and spend ten minutes in a coffin as a self help exercise:
Jung runs a seminar called the Coffin Academy, where, for $25 each, South Koreans can get a glimpse into the abyss. Over four hours, groups of a dozen or more tearfully write their letters of goodbye and tombstone epitaphs. Finally, they attend their own funerals and try the coffin on for size. In a candle-lighted chapel, each climbs into one of the austere wooden caskets laid side by side on the floor. Lying face up, their arms crossed over their chests, they close their eyes. And there they rest, for 10 excruciating minutes.
Proof, if any was needed, that there are plenty of gullible people, and companies, for the self-help industry to prey on.