Korea King ads under fire
The Consumer Protection Board has ordered the firm that sells Korea King frying pans to cease its advertising, saying the ads are unfair to buyers.
The Consumer Protection Board has ordered the firm that sells Korea King frying pans to cease its advertising, saying the ads are unfair to buyers.
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Korea King ordered to pull down 'unfair' ads
Online reporters
The Consumer Protection Board has ordered the firm that sells Korea King frying pans to cease its advertising, saying the ads are unfair to buyers.
Veerapong Boonyopas, who chairs the Office's direct sales and marketing committee, said on Wednesday that Wizard Solutions Co must pull down all ads for the product immediately, since they had been deemed deceptive.
Korea King's Diamond Series set, he said, normally sells for 18,000 baht, but the promotion on the company's website offers one set for only 3,900 baht with another set for free. The full price for the cheaper Gold Series set is 15,000 baht, but the website offers it for only 2,490 baht.
According to the ads, the first 59 callers would receive the promotional price.
The promotion is designed to generate consumer interest for the products unfairly, said Mr Veerapong, a law academic at Chulalongkorn University who works for the board.
Wizard Solutions, the sole authorised importer and seller of the products, was ordered to change the wording of the ads, he said, adding that people can buy the pans at their own risk.
The firm claims that the product outperforms others in the market by using several layers of coating.
The National Metal and Materials Technology Centre, Department of Science Service, and Kasetsart University's liberal arts and science faculty are conducting tests to verify the pans' performance and quality, Mr Veerapong said.
Korea King is manufactured by Kheo Sung World Inc in South Korea.
Customs Department spokesman Chaiyut Kumkun said "several hundred thousand" Korea King pans have been imported into Thailand under the kitchenware category. The company paid only a 7% value-added tax with duty exemption under the Asean-Korea free trade agreement.
Mr Chaiyut, who is the department's deputy director-general, refused to disclose the imported prices as they were a trade secret for importers.
Korea King has been heavily advertised in Thailand often using well-known TV personality Woody Milintachinda. (Facebook page of Korea King in Thailand)
The latest survey from Nielsen Thailand said Korea King was the top advertising spender in March, spending 191 million baht, up over 50 million baht year-on-year. Korea King has been the top ad-spending brand since last year, it added.
Questions about Korea King’s pans and ad claims went viral on social media this week. A person posted on Facebook that a Korea King pan was sold for only 600 baht in Singapore, prompting wide criticism of the pan.
The firm argued that the product sold in Thailand was of a better grade.
Wipak Chusak, an advisor to Wizard Solutions, said after the meeting with the board that the quality of the pan was certified in South Korea. The prices and promotion were also set by the Korean maker and the Thai firm was only the distributor, he added.
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