The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2024
Ceragem sold 'solid wood' massage chairs that were veneer glued over MDF
Ceragem advertised its massage chairs as 'premium solid wood' with 'the depth of solid wood' — the wood was plywood with a printed veneer over MDF.
Ceragem (세라젬) · 2024-04-24
What happened
From 2019, Ceragem advertised two massage-chair models, the 'Master' and the 'Power', in Korea with the phrases 'the depth of solid wood' (원목의 깊이) and 'premium solid wood' (프리미엄 원목), presenting the wooden body as a premium, solid-wood product.
The actual material was neither solid wood nor premium: the product used plywood with a wood-grain veneer glued over MDF (medium-density fibreboard). The premium claim described a surface film, not the material.
In April 2024 the Korea Fair Trade Commission found the display violated the Act on Fair Labelling and Advertising and imposed a corrective order together with a surcharge of 800 million won (₩800,000,000).
Why it happened
- 'Solid wood' is a premium price signal — a buyer pays for material quality they cannot see once the chair is assembled
- Describing a printed veneer as 'the depth of solid wood' turned a surface film into the whole product
- The claim ran for around five years across two models before the regulator caught it
The lesson
A material claim promises what the product is made of. 'Premium solid wood' on chairs that were veneer over MDF priced a surface film as substance — that cost Ceragem an 800-million-won surcharge.
Aftermath
The KFTC ordered Ceragem to correct the misleading 'solid wood' display and pay the 800-million-won surcharge. The case is a flagship example of Korean enforcement reaching a premium material claim that was really a printed surface.
Sources
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