Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency issued an administrative disposition against the Korean photo application "Snow (SNOW)." Snow is a Naver subsidiary.
According to the industry on the 7th, the Consumer Affairs Agency on the previous day issued an order requiring measures to prevent recurrence, saying Snow Corporation of Korea, which provides the Snow app service, and the company's Japanese subsidiary Snow Japan violated the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations.
According to the Consumer Affairs Agency, starting in April last year, the companies paid influencers to produce videos processed with the Snow app. The influencers then posted those videos on social networking services (SNS), adding the caption "I tried it with Snow." Because the videos did not indicate "advertisement," the agency viewed them as "stealth marketing."
Stealth marketing is a method of exposing a brand so consumers do not realize it is advertising. Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency defines stealth marketing as an "unjust indication" that can hinder consumers' rational choices and is cracking down on it.
A Snow official said, "We will reexamine the local subsidiary's marketing process and manage it more carefully to prevent any recurrence in the future."