A YouTuber with millions of followers was fined 5 million won ($4,100) Monday for false advertising of food products.
Food content YouTuber Jung Man-su, who goes by the name Banzz online, was fined for falsely promoting the weight-loss effects of his products, according to Daejeon District Court.
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A screenshot of Jeong’s YouTube show posted Jan. 2, 2017. (YouTube) |
Eat4U, a health food company Jeong launched in March 2017, marketed its products as diet aids in a misleading ad, according to prosecutors.
Judges said the ad, which ran for about three months on social media, misled consumers into believing weight loss could be achieved just by consuming the product.
Jeong, however, denied the accusations and pleaded innocence, claiming he did not intend to deceive consumers. He said his ad had been a compilation of reviews from the products’ users.
In an online statement posted July 18, Jeong apologized for the incident but pledged there was “nothing wrong” with his products.
Prosecutors had previously asked for a six-month jail term for the 28-year-old for violating food laws during a July 18 trial.
Over the course of the lawsuit, Jeong lost around 100,000 subscribers, bringing his number of followers to 3.1 million from 3.2 million.
By Kim Arin (
arin@heraldcorp.com)
