Park Yong-in (37), a member of the group Urban Zakapa and the CEO of Virtue Company, which planned the controversial ‘Beurre’ (BEURRE·butter) beer known as ‘butterless butter beer,’ has been sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial.
On the 18th, Judge Lee Min-ji of the Seoul Eastern District Court sentenced Park Yong-in to 8 months in prison, suspended for 2 years, for violating the Food Labeling and Advertising Act. The corporation Virtue Company, which was also indicted, was fined 10 million won.
The court stated, “The defendants prominently displayed the word ‘Beurre’ (BEURRE·butter) on the product despite the absence of butter and advertised that a specific flavor was based on butter,” adding, “This misled consumers into believing that the product contained butter, constituting false and exaggerated advertising.”
It further noted, “The defendants not only undermined consumer trust and disrupted fair trading order but also issued a false statement claiming that all products contained butter to avoid controversy after the indictment.”
The court determined the sentence by considering various mitigating factors, including that Park Yong-in had not received any other criminal penalties aside from the fine and that the violations had been corrected.
From May 2022 to January of last year, Park Yong-in is accused of advertising the beer as ‘butter beer,’ ‘BUTTER BEER,’ and ‘butter base’ on social media (SNS) and promotional posters, despite not using butter as an ingredient in the beer sold at convenience stores.
[Kim So-yeon, Star Today Reporter]
