The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Ajinomoto's 'あえて、' frozen meals quoted Instagram praise it had paid for
Ajinomoto and Inglewood paid third parties to post Instagram reviews of their frozen meals, then quoted those posts on the sales site as organic buzz.
Ajinomoto Co., Inc. · Inglewood, Inc. · 2025-09-19
What happened
From 10 May 2024 to 6 August 2024, Ajinomoto and Inglewood marketed their frozen home-delivery meal brand あえて (Aete) by paying third parties to post reviews on Instagram, then excerpting those posts onto the sales site under a heading like '使ってみた方の感想 Instagramでの投稿レビュー' (reviews from people who tried it — Instagram posts).
The excerpts were presented as the unprompted opinions of ordinary users, with no disclosure that the posts were paid for — a stealth-marketing display under the Article 5(3) notification of the Premiums and Representations Act.
On 7 August 2025 the Consumer Affairs Agency notified the two companies that the matter was suitable for the commitment procedure under Article 30; they applied for certification of a commitment plan, which the CAA certified on 19 September 2025 under Article 31(3).
The certified plan required the companies to resolve at board level not to repeat the conduct, inform consumers of the details, prevent recurrence, and report compliance. The certification did not constitute a finding that the conduct violated the Act.
Why it happened
- Quoting paid Instagram posts as if they were organic praise made happy customers the sales pitch
- A global food company leaning on undeclared paid reviews to launch a delivery brand
- The undisclosed posts carried the product's credibility, so trust was built on a hidden transaction
The lesson
Excerpting an Instagram post on your sales page is only honest if its author was never paid. When the 'reviews' are bought, the social proof is the ad — and Japan treats it as one.
Aftermath
Both companies certified a commitment plan and avoided a corrective order. The case sits in Japan's 2025 wave of stealth-marketing enforcement, notable here because the operator is a major food company rather than a small brand.
Sources
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