"Eat to Get Slim" Private SNS Word-of-Mouth Sales? Don't Be Fooled

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 23rd that it has identified 13 companies that produced and distributed unfair advertisements, including fake testimonials, through private SNS channels such as KakaoStory, and has taken administrative and legal actions against them.

The Ministry received information that companies forming networks based in specific regions were systematically producing and distributing unfair advertisements. After focusing investigations on advertising methods and transaction types, they identified 7 distribution specialized sales businesses and 6 telemarketing businesses, among others.

Instead of advertising on platforms like Facebook and Instagram, these companies used friend connections on KakaoStory and Naver Band to deliver false and exaggerated advertisements only to specific targets. To evade monitoring, they cleverly avoided active monitoring times during weekday daytime hours and concentrated on distributing false and exaggerated advertisements at night or on weekends and holidays.

The main contents of the unfair advertisements included ▲13 cases of deceptive ads that used fake testimonials or claimed the efficacy and effects of raw materials to mislead consumers by suggesting they help with dieting ▲3 cases of advertisements claiming disease prevention and treatment effects, such as red yeast rice helping with hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia ▲2 cases of false and exaggerated advertisements with inaccurate claims such as reducing swelling.

Among the identified companies, four distribution specialized sales businesses located in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju?FeedBox, FeedEye, FeedDay, and Sonyeo Bakery Co., Ltd.?were found to have established offices in the same or nearby areas and have been planning and developing diet and swelling-related products. Among the products they planned, 12 products illegally manufactured by an unregistered company, Agricultural Corporation Samjeong Nongsan Co., Ltd. (located in Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do), which did not register as a food manufacturing and processing business, were seized and destroyed in full.

The companies also secretly shared false and exaggerated advertising methods and even uploaded other companies’ products on their own channels, earning about 20% sales commissions.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety urged, "Do not be deceived by unfair advertisements that pretend to provide special information only to members on private SNS channels, as seen in this case."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.