Reviews differ but the meat is the same... Suspicion of Review Recycling at Jeju Restaurant

The Shape and Location of the Cut Meat Are the Same
"Clear Consumer Deception" Sparks Outrage Among Netizens

A restaurant in Jeju Island that sparked controversy over its "fatty samgyeopsal" is suspected of hiring bloggers to write multiple reviews using the same photos. On the 13th, an online community called 'BobaeDream' posted an article titled "Jeju Black Pork Restaurant Still Paying for Fake Reviews." The author, Mr. A, stated, "I won't say where it is. It's a Jeju black pork restaurant that recently became famous and trendy. All the meat in the numerous photos above is from the same grill and the same meat," and shared several photos.

A restaurant in Jeju Island, which has caused multiple controversies over "fatty pork belly," is suspected of recruiting bloggers to write several reviews using the same photo.
[Photo source=Online community 'BobaeDream']

The photos attached by Mr. A show various bloggers taking pictures of the meat placed on the grill at the restaurant and uploading them to their blogs. However, upon closer inspection, the cut shapes of the meat and the positions of the cut pieces are exactly the same in all photos. Mr. A pointed out, "The angles of the photos may differ, but you can tell if you look closely. Yet, the review writers are all different people. Despite having previously pointed out review manipulation once, this behavior continues."

He added, "Does business not work without manipulating reviews? Marketing is fine, but this is too obvious. In their apology, they said, 'At least we will run the business without feeling ashamed of ourselves. Please watch over us,' so I kept an eye on them," strongly criticizing the restaurant. In another post, raw meat photos before grilling were also criticized. Similarly, various bloggers uploaded raw meat photos, but only the angles differed; the fat distribution and meat shapes were identical.

Netizens who discovered this commented, "The bloggers who wrote the posts probably never actually visited; the company took photos from various angles and sent them, so the posts were fake." Netizens who saw the photos reacted with comments such as, "If you collect all the review photos, you could make a 360-degree 3D photo," "What kind of world is this where people do such things?" "This is a clear act of consumer deception," "Wow, do you have to be that shameless to become a famous restaurant?" and "Even fake reviews should have some sincerity, but this is neither sincere nor entertaining."

Meanwhile, according to the 'Samgyeopsal Quality Management Manual' published by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, it is recommended that the fat thickness for samgyeopsal be managed at 1cm or less, and for ogyeopsal at 1.5cm or less. It also advises discarding parts with excessive fat.