Park Yong-in found guilty in controversy over ‘butter-free beer’... suspended prison sentence in first trial

Urban Zakapa member Park Yong-in (37), who was put on trial on charges of selling butter-free beer as ‘butter beer’, was sentenced to suspended prison sentence in the first trial.

On the afternoon of the 18th, Judge Lee Min-ji of the 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced Park Yong-in, who was indicted on charges of violating the Food Labeling and Advertising Act, to 8 months in prison and 2 years of probation. A craft beer distributor, Virtua Company, represented by Park Yong-in, was sentenced to a fine of 10 million won.

The court ruled that day, “The advertisement in question constitutes false and exaggerated advertising because it misleads consumers into believing that the product contains butter even though it does not.”

Park Yong-in is accused of selling ‘Beurre’ (Butter) beer at convenience stores from June 2022 to January of the following year, and advertising it as ‘BUTTER BEER’, ‘Butter Base’ on social media as if butter was used in the product even though it did not contain butter as an ingredient.

The product became a hot topic immediately after its release, causing it to sell out. However, when it was revealed that the product did not contain butter, criticism poured in, and the manufacturer was criminally charged by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The manufacturer, Buruguru, was acquitted by the prosecution due to insufficient evidence, citing the reason that “it is difficult to acknowledge intent since it was a commissioned beer.”

The court found that Park Yong-in’s false advertising was intentional. According to the court testimony of the CEO of Buruguru, Park Yong-in asked for butter to be added, saying that he wanted to recreate the Butter Beer from the movie “Harry Potter.” The CEO testified that it was impossible to put butter in beer and that he could not use “Butter Beer” in the product name if he was not going to put butter in it.

The court stated that “the Butter Beer in “Harry Potter” does in fact contain butter. Consumers perceived it as Butter Beer because of the advertisement,” and pointed out that “the defendants were fully aware that there was a potential problem if they used the expression “butter” in their advertisements even though it did not contain butter.” In particular, considering that Park Yong-in is a member of the famous group Urban Zakapa, the court determined that there was a high possibility that consumers, considering his fame and recognition, would mistake the product for butter when watching the advertisement.

The court also pointed out that “the defendants‘ advertisement damaged consumer trust and disrupted fair order,” and “their attitude of announcing a false statement in January 2024, after the indictment, that ’butter was added to all products produced thereafter to avoid controversy,‘ is also poor.” However, the sentence was determined after considering the fact that they have not received any other criminal punishment other than a fine and that the violations have been corrected.

Jeong Hee-yeon, Donga.com reporter shine2562@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.