Turns out, that viral music recommendation post… was written by a Kakao employee 😮🎵

On March 24, the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) announced that Kakao Entertainment had secretly engaged in deceptive marketing for the past eight years — promoting their own music and albums through viral social media accounts without proper disclosure.

🚨 3 Major Tactics Revealed — Fans Tricked by "Hidden Ads"

Kakao Entertainment, Korea's #1 music distribution company (43% market share as of 2023), used three main tactics to boost their music sales:

1️⃣ Secret Ownership of Major SNS Pages

Kakao Entertainment acquired or created 15 popular SNS channels without revealing ownership. Examples include 'Idol Lab' (Facebook) and 'Do You Even Listen to Music?' (Facebook/YouTube/Instagram/TikTok).

📌 Over 2,353 posts from October 2016 to February 2024 promoted Kakao's music content — fooling fans into thinking it was organic.

2️⃣ Fake Fan Posts on Online Communities

Employees pretended to be ordinary fans posting promotional content on sites like TheQoo, Ppomppu, MLBPark, Instiz, Dimitori, etc.

📝 37 posts created between May 2021 and December 2023 — with zero disclosure they were written by Kakao staff.

3️⃣ Hidden Paid Ads via Marketing Agencies

Kakao paid 35 agencies around 860 million KRW (approx. $650K) to promote content secretly.

Campaigns appeared on pages like 'Idol Issue' and 'The Issues You'll Love', totaling 427 posts — all disguised as personal recommendations.

🤯 4.11 Million Followers Tricked — KFTC Slams Kakao

The KFTC pointed out, "With this kind of concealment, users would have no way of knowing they were looking at ads. Many likely believed the posts were genuine recommendations."

Kakao was aware of the legal risks but continued the practice. As a result, the KFTC issued a corrective order and a hefty fine of 390 million KRW (approx. $290K USD).

📉 Impact and Fallout

With over 4.11 million combined SNS followers and 1.5 million community users exposed, Kakao's hidden marketing strategy is now under heavy fire.

The KFTC concluded, "Given the deliberate and continued violation, the severity of this case warranted strict penalties."

[Photo Credit: Korea Fair Trade Commission]