Fair trade watchdog slaps $327,000 fine on Coupang for misleading ads

The Korea Times

Fair trade watchdog slaps $327,000 fine on Coupang for misleading ads

South Korea's fair trade watchdog on Tuesday slapped a 500 million-won ($327,000) fine on the South Korean arm of Coupang for posting misleading advertisements about discounts offered to paid membership subscribers. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said the action taken against Coupang Corp., which is the legal maximum that can be applied, comes as the company posted misleading advertisements on its website from August 2020 to May 2022 regarding the benefits provided to paid membership subscribers. According to the watchdog, the company informed users that members of the Coupang Wow program could purchase certain products at lower prices than regular customers without notifying them that such discounts were offered through a one-time coupon. "Coupang released advertisements as if Coupang Wow members had a separate pricing system offering permanent discounts compared with regular prices," the FTC said in a release. "But the suggested discounted price was only available once through a coupon provided upon subscribing to the membership," it added, noting the company failed to clearly inform

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