"Consistently Ordered Collagen, 5-Star Rating" 2700 Reviews Were All Fake

'Empty Box Marketing' Posting Reviews After Receiving Empty Boxes
A Method to Increase Sales and Purchase Reviews in a Short Period

As it was revealed that all 2,000 reviews of Korea Life & Health's health functional foods posted on Naver Shopping Mall were false, the seller and the advertising agency were fined a total of 140 million won.

The Fair Trade Commission announced on the 22nd that it imposed a fine of 14 million won and corrective orders on Korea Life & Health for violating the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising (Labeling and Advertising Act), and issued corrective orders to Gamseong.com.

The Fair Trade Commission imposed fines on sellers and advertising agencies that posted fake reviews to increase the sales volume and number of purchase reviews of their health functional foods on online shopping malls.
[Photo by Fair Trade Commission]

According to the Fair Trade Commission, Korea Life & Health registered its products on three Naver Smart Store sites operated by Gamseong.com?All That Item, Flexon, and Moa Modu Farm?from April 2020 to June 2021 and posted 2,708 fake reviews.

The fake reviews were created using a "empty box marketing" method. Part-time workers were hired to purchase the company's products using personal IDs, then the purchase amount was refunded, and only empty boxes without products were shipped to gain the right to write reviews.

When Korea Life & Health requested the creation of false purchase reviews for specific products, Gamseong.com registered the products, recruited part-time workers, and handled everything from shipping empty boxes to refunding the purchase amounts.

Part-time workers received 1,000 to 2,000 won per review as compensation. Empty box marketing is a method that increases sales volume and purchase reviews in a short period at a lower cost than typical viral marketing.

The Fair Trade Commission stated, "The reviews on the shopping mall were written arbitrarily by part-time workers who were not actual purchasers and did not even check the actual products, so both the numbers and content are false."

It added, "General consumers may be misled by the reviews into believing that the product is a high-quality item chosen by many other consumers," emphasizing, "This advertising interferes with consumers' rational choices and may undermine fair trade order."

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