KAKAO ENTERTAINMENT FOUND NOT GUILTY OF “BASHING LE SSERAFIM”…. FINED FOR BACKDOOR ADVERTISEMENT ON SNS

Kakao Entertainment was sanctioned by the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) for engaging in backdoor advertising of its music on popular SNS channels and online communities.

Regarding the allegation that Kakao Entertainment used its own SNS channels to engage in reverse viral marketing by defaming competitor idols, the FTC concluded that there was no evidence to support this claim after their investigation.

On the 24th, the FTC announced that it would impose a corrective order and a fine of 390 million KRW for Kakao Entertainment’s violation of the Fair Labeling and Advertising Act.

Meanwhile, while investigating this case, the FTC also looked into whether Kakao Entertainment had engaged in reverse viral marketing to intentionally defame competitor idols, such as LE SSERAFIM, but concluded that there was no evidence to support these allegations.

The FTC investigated whether Kakao Entertainment had used its SNS channel, ‘Idol Lab,’ to post negative content about competitor idols, in an effort to attract attention to idols from its own entertainment agency.

However, the FTC found no evidence of reverse viral marketing posts, so the investigation focused solely on the backdoor advertising allegations.

An FTC official stated, “While Kakao Entertainment organized viral marketing to promote its own music, there was no organized effort to target competitors and defame them. We believe there is no evidence of reverse viral marketing, so we only investigated the backdoor advertising aspect and handled the case accordingly.”