The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2025
Etude sold a BB cream on a PDRN claim that wasn't in the ingredient list
Etude sold a BB cream on a 10,000ppm PDRN claim the ingredient list didn't contain — consumers caught it and the ad wording was changed.
Etude (에뛰드) · Amorepacific (아모레퍼시픽) · 2025-09-02
What happened
In late August 2025, Amorepacific's cosmetics brand Etude launched the All Day Clear BB Cream at CJ Olive Young, with the sales page prominently claiming the product contained 'PDRN 10,000ppm'.
The full ingredient list did not contain any salmon-DNA-derived ingredient — salmon DNA, sodium DNA or polydeoxyribonucleotide — and listed only 'Lactobacillus ferment lysate' as a green-tea fermentation extract. Consumers said they had taken the cream for a salmon-DNA product and criticised the gap between the ad wording and the label.
Etude defended the claim by noting that PDRN can be extracted from many raw materials, and said its version came from a green-tea lactic-acid-bacteria fermentation lysate. After the complaints built up, it belatedly modified the product detail page, saying it would work to minimise customer confusion.
A Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official said that emphasising 'PDRN' without naming the raw material could lead consumers to believe it was salmon-DNA-derived, and that a claim a consumer could reasonably be misled by would amount to false or exaggerated advertising.
Why it happened
- The ad sold the prestige of a costly ingredient — salmon-DNA PDRN — while the actual product carried a plant fermentation extract, so the claim traded on a meaning the label did not deliver.
- The wording went out without a check that a buyer could not tell what raw material the PDRN came from, and it was only corrected after the complaints arrived.
- A premium keyword ran on the sales page while a plain name sat on the label, so the two documents a customer relies on told different stories.
The lesson
An ad that borrows a premium keyword — PDRN — for an ingredient the label names differently sells something the product does not deliver, and a consumer who reads both will find the contradiction.
Aftermath
After consumer complaints, Etude modified the product detail page, saying it would work to minimise customer confusion. It maintained that PDRN can be extracted from many raw materials and that its version came from a green-tea lactic-acid-bacteria fermentation lysate. A Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official said that highlighting 'PDRN' without naming the raw material could lead consumers to believe it was salmon-DNA-derived, and that a misleading claim would amount to false or exaggerated advertising.
Sources
- News Journalism — 'Highlighting high PDRN content' Amorepacific's Etude in a deceptive-ad row (Sep 2025)
- The Public — Amorepacific's repeated misleading ads, Etude PDRN claim edited after criticism (Nov 2025)
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