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No.521 2007.05.24 Seoul YWCA Consumer Environment Department
Advertising aimed at youth is inundated with falsehoods and exaggeration

Press Release No. 521, Issued on 24 May. 2007

Seoul YWCA Consumer Environment Department

Advertising aimed at youth is inundated with falsehoods and exaggeration

The Consumer Information Center of Seoul YWCA (President Hyung Kim) is set to monitor advertising aimed at young people. As young adults have emerged as consumers with purchasing power, various types of advertising aimed at the nation’s youth have appeared. Advertising is the best source of information for them, but it has a dominant effect on the attitudes and purchases of young people who do not have a concrete sense of value, judgment or a critical mind, heavily influencing their consumption.
In this respect, the meeting aims to make up a housewives’ monitoring team trained to protect young people from diverse advertising media, including Internet advertising, and to figure out the contents of advertising that youth can easily access, as well as the quantity of sensational, falsified and exaggerated advertising that instigates consumption, in an effort to formulate countermeasures and preventive measures.    

1. Survey period: April 9, 2007 - April 25, 2007

2. Subject and contents

The housewives’ monitoring team monitored the falsehoods, exaggerations and inappropriateness of advertising campaigns aimed at youth (educational institutes, learning materials, diet foods, mobile communications, clothes, foods, cosmetic surgery, and so on) and transmitted on the Internet and in 10 youth magazines and 5 free newspapers, all of which are easily accessed by young people.

3. Survey results

As the youth demographic has emerged as an important consumer group with considerable purchasing power, a large amount of advertising aimed at youths has appeared, but monitoring has shown that the advertising is becoming ever more provocative, falsified and exaggerated, promoting the spread of an ill-thought-out consumerism.

1) As for the ranking of falsified or misleading advertising on items for young people, educational institutes (20 cases) ranked 1st, followed by diet programs (18 cases), mobile communications (11 cases), teaching materials (8 cases), cosmetic surgeries (8 cases), clothes, cosmetics, overseas study, and foods.

2) It appears there are only a few youth magazines (Lemon Tree, Ceci, ArtMD, Art & Design, Uhak 21, Critical Reading, Mathematics and Education and etc.), and these deal with specific subjects such as information on college entrance, design, games and clothes, and are dominated by articles on entertainers and fashion and commercial advertising rather than the provision of information to help enhance the emotional stability of young people. As much of the advertising on educational institutes, diet programs and cosmetics surgery appears to have been falsified and exaggerated, or is baseless, and much of it refers to unclear and misleading facts and rates of success, it is considered to have an adverse effect on young people who lack good judgment.

3) As for the items pointed out to be advertised inappropriately on the Internet, diet programs ranked 1st, followed by mobile communications and learning materials. It appears that youths are exposed to the adverse effects of falsified and exaggerated advertising on the Internet, which is not strictly controlled.  

4) Free newspapers are distributed to citizens, young and old, who go to work every morning, and some of the cartoons (Sports Korea ball and AM7 Star of the Age of Forty) and advertising (AM7 mobile phone SKT20#22+nate, KTF20#22+magic@, Sports Korea Japanese Special Sexy Pictures) on view are believed to be provocative and indecent to the extent that they have an adverse effect on youths who lack good judgment.    

5) Results of analysis of unfair advertising

■ Diet programs: Advertising that emphasizes efficacy without an objective base, hyped up expressions that cannot be verified, confusing advertising that stresses the efficacy of a treatment for a disease and baited advertising. (Examples - Oriental detox diet by Chung Kun Dang Pharm: A bio rhythm-adjusting diet that lasts a lifetime, the only diet in Korea that acquired a patent/ The Insulin diet: reduction of body fat and detox without dieting / The Angel diet: Eliminate body fat alone! Free membership and one month’s free subscription at the time of examination of body fat.)

■ Educational institutes & overseas study: Hyped rates of success in tests, hyped expressions that cannot be verified, and so on. (Example - new Toeic by PAGODA Academy: The moment you join us, you will be surprised with your skyrocketing Toeic sore / Dari Art Academy: 100% success guaranteed in an examinations to enter top-ranked colleges / YBM Sisa Academy: The highest rate of success, the world’s best quality instruction / MERIC Japanese Language Academy: 100% success guaranteed in entering sister schools.)

■ Learning materials: Advertising that stresses improvement in grades and learning effect without any base. (Examples - Gitan study that tastes good: The secret to coming 1st in mid-term exams, Everything is explained in Gita’sn homepage / Joseon Ilbo essays that taste good: The best in entrance exams leads to the best in essay tests / Weekly Chosun dominated the essay test market / Nunnopi Daekyo: Advanced education system.)

■ Mobile communications: Speculative advertising, bait advertising and provocative advertising. (Examples - SK Telecom T-world: 24/7 discount coupons, 2 billion won worth of gifts, KTF: press magicⓝ - 277 and magicⓝ ezi, you will receive a lot of gifts.)

■ Cosmetic surgery: Baseless advertising and hyped up advertising on efficacy. (Examples - Grand Cosmetic Surgery: Invest 30 minutes, you will get model - like calves / Glowell Cosmetic Surgery: Natural double - eye lids, No pain at all / Noble Cosmetic Surgery: Become beautiful in the twinkling of an eye.)

■ Clothes: Casual wear for youth/ Two women sensually embracing each other (CoCaRoLi), A male model with an expressionless face is being bound by a rope (ASK).

4. Suggestions

※ The following are suggested based on the results of monitoring advertising aimed at youth:

1) To the government

▶ Clear definition of advertising for youths and enhancement of protection are required

Since there is no separate standard for advertising aimed at youth, a standard needs to be made in accordance with the Basic Act for Consumers to regulate such advertising.

▶ Strengthened control against falsified and hyped advertising

 - The Fair Trade Commission, KARB and Korea Publication Ethics Commission need to implement control and correction more strictly through regular monitoring of falsified and hyped advertising.   

 - Thorough post management is required to see if requests for correction of advertising are implemented, and economic penalties need to be imposed on violators.  

 - Deliberation of advertising in printed media operated by KARB needs to be strengthened so that deliberation on advertising in magazines and printed media for youths can be actively implemented.

 - It is recommended to include free newspapers in pre-deliberation to strengthen the pre-deliberation of provocative advertising and cartoons and the consideration of corrective measures so that a healthy advertising culture can take root.

2) To companies

▶ Advertisers’ autonomous efforts at self-regulation are required

Autonomous improvements and enhanced social responsibility with regard to appropriate advertising practices are requested on the part of advertisers in order to help youths choose the right products and make reasonable decisions on purchases.   

5. Corrective measures

1) The Korea Press Ethics Commission, Korea Publication Ethics Commission and Government Youth Commission were requested to deliberate on advertising that is potentially harmful to youth and come up with measures to help create a healthy advertising culture by including not only the indecent elements of major newspapers but also the contents of free newspapers in the process of deliberation.

2) The Korea Advertising Review Board (KARB) was requested to deliberate 14 cases of falsified and exaggerated advertising in youth magazines; consequently, two cases of advertising for double-eyelid cosmetic surgery and labial cosmetic surgery were suspended, 9 cases of advertising - in addition to Yonsei Milk advertising - were changed, and advertising on CoCaRoLi and Andew was issued a warning.    

3) As for the provocative billboard advertising in the interiors of the trains running on Subway Line No.2 (Vivaldi Park, Ocean World), Seoul Metro was requested to change the contents.  

4) The Fair Trade Commission was asked to come up with a standard of youth advertising and to regulate and control falsified and exaggerated advertising.

6. Plan

▶ Pre-monitoring of falsified and exaggerated advertising

Consumer groups need to make concerted efforts to prevent damage to consumers by pushing for the pre-monitoring of advertising.

▶ Consumer and advertising media education for youth

With the over-abundance of commercial advertising, consumer and media education is a must. Accordingly, education will be provided to prevent youths from becoming heavily dependent on advertising when making purchases, in addition to institutional improvement.

▶ For inquiries, please contact: Manager Eun-ju Choi (3705-6065)



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