chocoZAP sold '24-hour unlimited' gym access — every service was capped at 5–16 hours

In August 2024 Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency issued a corrective order (措置命令) to RIZAP under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations. The company's chocoZAP subscription gym — pitched as an affordable, anytime, unmanned gym for people who hate exercise — had advertised '24時間使い放題' (unlimited 24-hour use) for all services with no extra charge.

The order found two problems. First, superior-quality misrepresentation: the 'unlimited 24 hours' claim applied to eight services that each had a daily cap — self whitening 5 hours, hair removal 7, desk bike 7 hours 40 minutes, nail 8 hours 20 minutes, esthetic 14 hours 40 minutes, and massage chair and golf 16. Second, stealth marketing: between January and March 2024 RIZAP paid third parties to post praise of chocoZAP on Instagram, then reposted those posts on its own website as 'customer voices' without disclosing they were paid ads.

RIZAP published a formal apology and was ordered to stop the claims, publish a notice to consumers, and put recurrence-prevention measures in place. The case landed as Japan's stealth-marketing rules, effective since October 2023, were starting to be enforced.