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South Korea: Audi Volkswagen slapped with fine for deceptive ad

By  |  April 10, 2016

A court has sided with the country’s antitrust agency against Audi Volkswagen Korea, upholding the agency’s decision to fine the German company for deceptive advertising.

On Friday, the Seoul High Court rejected Audi Volkswagen’s appeal. The company had asked the court to rule against the Fair Trade Commission, which fined the local unit of the German premium brand 94 million won for allegedly paying famous bloggers to post positive articles about the company’s cars without saying they were advertisements.

According to the court, Audi Volkswagen Korea signed a deal with local advertising agency Ogilvy PR Seoul in June 2010 for the automaker’s online marketing in Korea. Ogilvy PR Seoul then placed an order with “Internet Viral Marketing” company Futurelogy, which engaged its partner, Mirae I&C, for Audi Volkswagen Korea’s online marketing.

Full content: The Korea Times

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