Government Sejong Office Fair Trade Commission /Courtesy of News1

The Fair Trade Commission imposed a penalty surcharge and ordered correction against Eduwill and ST Unitas (the operator of Gongdanggi and Gyeongdanggi), which deceived consumers with 'exaggerated advertisements' for online classes.

On the 10th, the Fair Trade Commission deemed the period-limited advertisements, such as '5 million won off for just one week only' by online class operators, unfair, imposing a penalty surcharge of 154 million won on Eduwill and 156 million won on ST Unitas.

From June 1, 2020, to April 17, 2023, Eduwill sold 109 online class products through its website, using expressions such as 'limited time, 00% deep discount' for each recruitment period. However, Eduwill continued to sell the same products with the same price and additional benefits even after the dates indicated in the advertisements.

The advertising exaggerated the price and composition of the products, influencing consumers' purchasing decisions. The Fair Trade Commission found that Eduwill posed a risk of disrupting fair transaction order.

The online lecture company Eduwill advertises products related to licensed real estate agents with a limited-time advertisement. /Courtesy of Fair Trade Commission

The situation is similar for ST Unitas, which operates the online education service platform Gongdanggi and Gyeongdanggi.

From January 2017 to November 2021, they sold 47 lectures related to civil servant exams in their cyber mall, using phrases such as 'now this set closes D-00.' Additionally, from July 2 to August 16, 2021, they sold three civil servant exam preparation products in their cyber mall at prices higher than the previous costs, making it seem as if the advertisement day offered the lowest prices. They lowered prices immediately after the advertisements.

From June 4 to August 5 of the same year, they sold products for the real estate agent exam, setting a weekly sales period and indicating 'sale closes on month day' in pop-up windows. However, at the bottom of the advertisement, they marked in small or faint letters that 'the same price and benefits may be resold later.'

The Fair Trade Commission concluded that all such advertisements constituted unfair advertising practices under the Display Advertising Act. While both companies advertised discounts only until a specific time, even after that time, they merely changed the deadline and some advertising phrases to repeatedly present products with effectively the same price and composition.

The Fair Trade Commission determined that ST Unitas's advertising was a more serious violation. This was because important information presented to consumers was written in noticeably smaller and fainter text compared to the main advertisement, making it hard to identify. The Fair Trade Commission stated that it was a deceptive advertising act that interfered with consumers' rational purchasing decisions.

In particular, the two companies had signed a 'self-compliance agreement to prevent unfair advertising by online lecture companies' to prevent unfair advertisements in advance. This agreement is a self-regulatory covenant containing items that companies providing online educational services in the civil servant and certification fields in 2019 should adhere to in order to prevent unfair advertising of products. The Fair Trade Commission found that the two companies recognized the potential that their period-limited sale advertisements constituted unfair advertising.

It was also revealed that Eduwill advertised giving away Apple AirPods and Samsung Electronics Galaxy Tabs through a lottery, but actually did not provide them. Eduwill advertised that they would select five consumers who purchased products from November 2022 to October 2023 to give high-priced items as prizes to increase sales. However, the Fair Trade Commission confirmed that there was no lottery. This constitutes false and exaggerated advertising.

The Fair Trade Commission noted, 'This action is a strict sanction against period-limited advertising that has repeatedly occurred due to competition among businesses in the online education market,' adding, 'We will continuously monitor advertising practices that disrupt transaction order.'