Alzipmat hired an agency to smear a rival in mom cafes — Korea's maximum fine

J World Industry, the maker of Alzipmat, one of Korea's best-known baby play mats, wanted to own the word-of-mouth that decides the market: parenting forums. From 2017, for about eight months, it ran the campaign through an advertising agency — 274 posts and comments across 54 internet sites, above all the 'mom cafes' where Korean parents research purchases. Posing as ordinary consumers, the agency attacked the rival Creamhouse Friends mats: 'my child's skin broke out in allergies', 'a crazy company where harmful substances were detected'. The same posts recommended Alzipmat.

This was not an agency freelancing: J World Industry dictated the wording of specific comments and received real-time reports on posting progress. The scheme ran until a police search and seizure in 2018, and the former chief executive was later criminally convicted of obstruction of business. Some of the fake posts stayed online until September 2025 — eight years on, still posing as parents' experience and shaping purchases.

On 19 April 2026 the Korea Fair Trade Commission sanctioned J World Industry under the Fair Labeling and Advertising Act, as both deceptive advertising — hiding the author's identity to distort purchase decisions — and disparaging advertising aimed at damaging a competitor. The surcharge was ₩500 million, the statutory maximum fixed amount, applied because the sales influenced by the campaign could not be isolated, and because the scheme maliciously exploited parents' anxiety about child safety in a market where reputation is everything. A corrective order accompanied the fine.