Japan’s stealth marketing rule for gifted products

The rule in one paragraph

Japan’s Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations (景品表示法) bans misleading representations. Article 5(3) lets the government designate more of them. On March 28, 2023, it designated “representations that make it difficult for general consumers to tell they are a business’s representations” (Cabinet Office Notice No. 19), in force from October 1, 2023. In short: an ad that hides that it’s an ad. The Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁, the CAA) explains it on its stealth marketing page, and sets out how it applies the rule in its operational standards (運用基準) and a Q&A.

The company is regulated, not the creator

The CAA’s page says it plainly: only businesses are covered. The rule applies to the business that supplies the product or service (the advertiser). Influencers and other third parties asked by a company to advertise are not covered. The Q&A adds one exception: an influencer who supplies the product together with the advertiser.

So if a gifted creator’s post breaks the rule, the order goes to your company. The orders so far have all named the brand, not the people who posted.

When a creator’s post counts as your ad

The test is whether your company was involved in deciding the content of the post (表示内容の決定に関与). If it was, the post is your company’s representation (事業者の表示), even though it looks like a creator’s own opinion. The operational standards give examples:

• You have a third party post about your product on their social media or on a review site.
• You give the product free and ask for a social media post, and the creator posts in line with your direction or message, so the post can’t be seen as their free will.
• You never ask outright, but hint at more work. For example, you mention future deals if they post. That can still make it your ad.

To decide, the CAA looks at the whole situation: what you said to the creator (emails, calls, the note in the package), what you gave them, why you gave it (for example, to promote the product), and how long the relationship has lasted or will last. Anything of value counts, not only money or products. An event invitation counts too.

When it’s the creator’s own post

A post is not your ad when, judged by the facts, the creator decided its content of their own free will (自主的な意思). The operational standards give examples:

• A creator posts about your product of their own accord, even many times.
• You give the product free and ask for a post, but the creator still decides the content freely.
• You hand out samples to the general public, and some people post of their own accord.
• You give a plain present to someone you don’t have that kind of relationship with, not to get a post, and they post of their own accord.

The Q&A draws a line that matters for seeding. Handing out samples on the street to anyone is one thing. Choosing a specific influencer and sending them the product is different, because you already have some relationship with them. Depending on what you said, what you gave, why, and whether you have worked together before or might again, the post may be your ad. In practice, most seeding programs pick creators, follow up and hope for posts, so plan for the posts to need a label.

The CAA’s orders so far

When the CAA finds a breach, it issues a cease-and-desist order (措置命令) and publishes it on its website. These are orders under the stealth marketing rule, from the CAA’s own press releases:

Notice the pattern. Most of these cases are not about the creator’s post on its own. They are about the brand reusing requested posts on its own site, under headings like “popular on social media”, without saying it asked for them. The Q&A says the same: a requested post must not be shown as “customer reviews” (お客様の声), and when you reuse it, it must be clear to visitors that you asked for it.

Which labels work

The operational standards give two examples of making it clear that a post is the company’s representation:

• Words such as “広告” (advertisement), “宣伝” (promotion), “プロモーション” (promotion) or “PR”.
• A sentence such as “A社から商品の提供を受けて投稿している” (“I’m posting this after receiving the product from Company A”).

The Q&A says other wording is allowed, as long as the post as a whole makes it clear. It also warns that using one of those words isn’t enough if the rest of the post muddies it, for example “広告” at the start and “this is my honest opinion as a third party” later on.

Where the label goes

The operational standards list ways a label can fail even when it’s there:

• At the end of the post, where people are unlikely to see it.
• Smaller or fainter than the text around it, or lost in a long text.
• Buried in a pile of hashtags.
• In a video, shown too briefly to notice, or, in a long video, only in the middle or at the end.

The Q&A adds two points. A label only in a reply or thread under the post, not in the post itself, is usually not clear. And for videos, a label only at the start can be missed by people who start watching later. The CAA says it is desirable to keep a label such as “広告” on screen for the whole video.

What an order means

• A public cease-and-desist order. Under Article 7 of the Act, the CAA orders the company to tell the public the representation was misleading, put measures in place to prevent it happening again and not do it again. The press release names the company, the product and what the posts said.
• Guidance first, sometimes. The Q&A says that when there is a risk of a breach but no breach is found, the CAA may give administrative guidance (指導) instead.
• No surcharge for stealth marketing alone. The Q&A says a breach of the stealth marketing rule is not subject to a surcharge order (課徴金納付命令). It can be if the same ad also makes misleading claims about quality or price (優良誤認, 有利誤認).
• Ignoring an order is a crime. Breaking a cease-and-desist order can bring up to 2 years in prison or a fine of up to ¥3 million (Article 46), and a fine of up to ¥300 million for the company (Article 49).

An amendment to the Act, in force since October 1, 2024, added a direct fine of up to ¥1 million for misleading claims about quality or price (Article 48), a 1.5 times surcharge for repeat offenders within 10 years, and a commitment procedure where a company can propose its own fix. The direct fine covers misleading claims about quality or price, not stealth marketing on its own. But a gifted post that hides the ad and also overstates what a supplement does could be both.

A checklist for brands that seed products

1. 01

   Assume a seeded post is your ad

   If you chose the creator, sent the product and asked or hoped for a post, plan for the post to need a label. Treat a post as the creator’s own only when you truly had no say in it.

2. 02

   Put the exact words in your brief

   Tell creators, in writing, to start the caption with “PR” or “広告”, or a sentence like “〇〇から商品の提供を受けて投稿しています”. Ask for the label in the post itself, not in a reply or only in the bio.

3. 03

   Ask for the label in the video

   For TikTok, Reels and Shorts, ask for “PR” or “広告” on screen. The CAA says it’s desirable to keep it there for the whole video.

4. 04

   Keep your notes and messages

   The CAA judges involvement from what you said and gave. Keep a record of the brief, the package note and what you sent to whom.

5. 05

   Check every post

   Find the posts your gifted creators make about your product, tagged or not, and check the label is there, near the start, and not buried in hashtags. Ask for a fix when it’s missing, and note when you asked.

6. 06

   Label posts you reuse

   Most orders so far were about brands quoting requested posts on their own websites. If you reuse a creator’s post on your site, in ads or in a “popular on social media” section, say that you asked for it.

Check one post against Japan’s words now:

How Pozto helps

Pozto watches the creators you gifted on TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts and finds the posts that show your product, tagged or not. For each post, it reads the caption for disclosure words and notes whether they come before the caption is cut off. It notes YouTube’s paid promotion flag and Instagram’s “Paid partnership” label where it can read them, and, for videos it checks, whether the creator said or showed the disclosure.

In Settings, under “Disclosure rules”, set “Grade posts by the rules of” to Japan. Captions written mostly in Japanese are graded by Japan’s rules anyway, whatever that setting says. Pozto then grades each post clear, weak or none. Clear: “広告”, “宣伝”, “プロモーション” or “PR”, or a phrase with “提供を受け”, before the caption is cut off; one of those said or shown in the video; or the platform’s own label. Weak: an English label such as “#ad” or “Sponsored”, a gift word such as “#gifted”, or a Japanese label far down the caption. None: nothing.

It reports what it found. It doesn’t decide whether a post meets the law, but it shows you which posts to look at and which creators to ask for a fix. Start free with up to 10 creators. For other countries, see influencer disclosure rules by country.