[Korea Instructor Newspaper Reporter Lee Mi-sook] Diet supplement, anti-aging, joint protection... YouTube is full of recommended products, and Instagram’s realistic experience stories entice you to click ‘buy.’ On TV health information programs, experts such as doctors, pharmacists, and oriental medicine doctors appear and kindly explain the ‘scientific evidence.’
, together with the Consumer Group, a consumer group, monitored 400 online advertisements for health functional foods and health foods (functional advertisements) sold on five platforms, including Naver, Kakao, Instagram, YouTube, and Coupang.
As a result, a whopping 233 cases of unfair advertisements were revealed, excluding those that could not be accurately called unfair advertisements, although they were vague and exaggerated. There were many testimonials that advertised the product as if it were a medicine, exaggerated the functions of the raw materials or products, used false facts, or exaggerated the effects.
Company A’s ‘green lipped mussel’ product, which gained popularity as it was known to have joint-protecting properties, advertised pharmaceutical-level therapeutic effects such as treating arthritis, preventing asthma and cardiovascular disease, and alleviating inflammation. Company B's 'Cissus' product, which SNS influencers mobilized, is proudly saying that it not only reduces body fat, but also has benefits such as diabetes prevention, bone health, and pain and inflammation relief when consumed.
In advertisements, papers are presented to ‘scientifically’ prove the effectiveness. To what extent can we trust the contents of this paper, which claims to be ‘the latest research results’? The reporters verified several papers used in the advertisement. It was confirmed that only advantageous parts were extracted, that the source was not properly disclosed, and that papers from 25 years ago were claimed to be the latest research results.
Additionally, various experiments that can be seen with our own eyes also appear. Chunks of bread or oil may melt, and the oil may separate and float on top of the chicken. You can see the reality of the experiments in , which makes you look at the experiments with admiration.
A TV health information program where doctors, oriental medicine doctors, pharmacists, and experts are concerned about my health and provide solutions to problems. Professor Eunjeong Kim (Kyunghee University Graduate School of Media and Communication) said the health information program is “a large and well-planned advertising strategy.” The reporters, along with experts, analyzed the broadcast contents of 8 health information programs and 24 episodes.
How do they shake our hearts and make us open our wallets? You can see how the huge advertisement disguised as a broadcast and the experts such as doctors, oriental medicine doctors, pharmacists, etc. who are mobilized in the advertisement tempt us in the 410th episode of KBS on March 21st at 10 PM.
*'Current Current Affairs' is an investigative reporting program of the Korea Broadcasting Corporation. Planning Intention: This is a current affairs program based on the know-how of investigative reporting and the planning power of authentic documentaries. is a program that integrates <60 Minutes Tracking> and was created to respond more quickly to rapidly changing current affairs and plan in-depth investigations. The host (cast) is lawyer Lim Jae-seong. By providing information on various issues, official videos, episode information, etc. are attracting the attention of viewers.
View full article - Current Affairs Planning Chang, please take care of my health?... Health information program ‘large and well-planned advertising strategy’
