The Korea Fair Trade Commission said on the 19th that it imposed a 500 million won penalty surcharge and a corrective order on floor mat manufacturer J World Industry (Alzipmat) for posting articles disparaging a rival's products on internet mom-cafe communities.
According to a Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) probe, J World Industry, through an advertising agency, posted 274 critical comments about rival Cream House Friends and its infant mats on 54 internet mom-cafe sites. The conduct occurred from Oct. 30, 2017, to June 27, 2018.
The comments were written through the advertising agency's account, but the content made it appear as if written by consumers who had used Cream House's products. The problematic comments included "Isn't that company really crazy over there," and "I was using Cream, was I the only one who had a mess? My baby's skin turned red."
J World Industry gave specific instructions to the advertising agency on the content of the comments to be written. This conduct continued until police carried out a search and seizure on suspicion of business interference and other charges. The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) applied violations including Article 3(1)4 of the Act on Fair Labeling and Advertising, which prohibits unfairly disparaging a competitor.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said, "Considering that the comments in this case were written with a malicious purpose to degrade the reputation of a competitor and its products, we decided to impose a penalty surcharge of 500 million won, the statutory maximum for a fixed-amount surcharge."