- Issued a correction order and fine for advertising "9 out of 10 people pass within 3 months" without objective basis -
The Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), chaired by Ki-Jeong Han, announced that it has decided to issue a correction order and impose a fine of 5 million won on Eduwill Co., Ltd. (hereinafter 'Eduwill') for engaging in deceptive advertising practices while selling online courses for preparing for public corporation employment exams. Eduwill advertised that discounts were available only until a specified date, yet continued the discount promotions beyond this date, and also falsely advertised that 9 out of 10 people pass within 3 months without objective or reasonable evidence.
- Discount Deadline Advertisement: Around February 28, 2022, Eduwill advertised a 100,000 won discount on online courses such as the "Public Corporation Refund Class" on its online mall, claiming that the discount was available only until March 2, 2022. However, the same discount promotion was repeatedly advertised until March 7, 2022, and again until March 11, 2022, even after the advertised deadline.
- Short-term Pass Advertisement: From March 15, 2022, to April 26, 2022, Eduwill advertised on its online mall that "9 out of 10 people pass within 3 months" for their online employment preparation courses for public corporations.
Consumers who saw these discount deadline advertisements were misled to believe that they could no longer receive the discounted price after the advertised end date. Additionally, those who saw the short-term pass advertisements were misled to believe that 90% of students who took Eduwill's online employment preparation courses passed within 3 months.
In particular, the short-term pass advertisement was based on a survey of only 10 respondents, which cannot be considered representative. The survey asked about the time taken to pass after taking Eduwill’s employment courses but did not consider the actual time required for job preparation. Despite this, Eduwill definitively advertised "pass within 3 months."
The KFTC's action highlights the significance of ensuring consumers can make informed decisions based on objective information by detecting and sanctioning unfair advertising practices by online course providers, such as false or exaggerated claims like "pass within 3 months."
Moving forward, the KFTC will continue to monitor unfair advertising practices by online course providers and will respond strictly upon detecting any violations of the law.