The encyclopedia · Advertising & PR · Marketing decision · 2024
Seragem sold plywood as 'solid wood' — the KFTC fined it ₩128m
Seragem's massage chair used plywood with a walnut veneer, but ads called it 'premium solid black walnut'. The KFTC fined it ₩128m.
Seragem · 2024-04-24
What happened
Seragem marketed its 'Pauze Decore' massage chair as made from solid wood. The wooden parts were in fact plywood laminated with a California walnut veneer.
The advertising used phrases such as 'the depth of solid wood', 'the value of solid wood' and 'premium solid black walnut'. A small disclaimer in some ads — 'layered black walnut material made using natural solid wood' — was too unclear to tell consumers the surface was veneer.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission ruled the ads misled consumers about the materials, a core factor in a premium-priced furniture purchase.
It imposed a corrective order and a surcharge of 128 million won.
Why it happened
- Material is the whole value of a premium product — swapping veneer for solid wood changes what the buyer owns
- A disclaimer the reader cannot parse is a disclaimer that does not exist
- Charging solid-wood prices for plywood invites the most damaging kind of review
The lesson
When material is the selling point, the material must be what it is. Calling a veneer 'solid wood' brands the product a fake at the exact feature the price was built on.
Aftermath
The KFTC found Seragem's 'Pauze Decore' massage chair was made of plywood with a walnut veneer yet advertised as 'premium solid black walnut', and that the disclaimer was too unclear to correct the impression. It imposed a corrective order and a 128 million won surcharge for misleading materials advertising under the Fair Labeling and Advertising Act.
Sources
spotted an error? The club wants to know.
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