Quang Minh and Van Hugo could be fined over 100 million VND for false milk advertising

At the regular press conference of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism on the afternoon of April 21, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huyen, Deputy Director of the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information, informed about the handling of violations by editor Quang Minh and MC Van Hugo in advertising milk products.

Ms. Huyen said: “In the immediate future, we have worked with and handled two specific cases, editor Quang Minh and MC Van Hugo. In the past, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information has also received many reports from press agencies regarding the situation of some individuals advertising milk and nutritional products with false information. The Department has coordinated with the Department of Food Safety (Ministry of Health) to inspect, verify and handle the violating advertisements.”

Accordingly, both individuals participated in advertising a milk product. MC Van Hugo was determined to have advertised that if you drink milk regularly for 3 to 6 months, you can increase your height by 3 to 5 cm. "Although this is considered a personal experience, when speaking in the product advertising clip, this information can easily make consumers misunderstand that it is a general effect. Meanwhile, there is no document proving that the product has such effects," Ms. Huyen emphasized.

Regarding editor Quang Minh, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information determined that there was an act of advertising some nutritional ingredients that were not in the official list of this milk product. In addition, the advertisement content also used the name of a doctor, violating regulations related to advertising health protection foods.

“These acts are advertising beyond the intended use, causing confusion about the quality, ingredients and effectiveness of the product - a very common violation today,” Ms. Huyen said, and recommended: “All those involved in advertising, especially artists and celebrities, need to seriously learn from their experience. When signing an advertising contract, it is necessary to carefully check the legal documents related to the product as well as the content of the advertising script, avoiding providing information that exceeds the announcement, or is misleading about the intended use or quality.”

After the meeting on April 18, the Department of Radio, Television and Electronic Information drew up a working record and a handling record. The expected fine for editor Quang Minh is 37.5 million VND, including 2 violations: advertising inconsistent with the prescribed documents (Point A, Clause 2, Article 52, Decree 38/2021/ND-CP) and using the doctor's name in the advertisement (Point A, Clause 4, Article 52).

For MC Van Hugo, the violation was determined to be causing confusion about product quality and uses, according to Clause 5, Article 34, Decree 38/2021/ND-CP, with an expected fine of 70 million VND.

Previously, both Quang Minh and Van Hugo posted public apologies. Editor Quang Minh admitted his mistake: “I was not careful enough. This is a mistake and also a bitter lesson in my career. I apologize for disappointing the audience. I am not a doctor or nutritionist, and I have never intended to guarantee or affirm the medical value of any product.”

MC Van Hugo also posted a long response on her personal page and admitted part of the responsibility: "I apologize for personalizing the results my son received for promotion, while each child will have a different body type and reaction to the product."

“This is a very difficult time for me. I would like to learn from this experience for the future and thank those who still love and understand me during this time,” Van Hugo shared.