In 2026, the market supervision departments of the three provinces and one city in the Yangtze River Delta thoroughly implemented the integrated development strategy of the Yangtze River Delta, actively coordinated advertising supervision and industrial development work, focused on key tasks such as ecological governance of Internet advertising, supervision of suggestive phrases in advertising, and special management of outdoor advertising orientation issues. They continued to increase advertising supervision and law enforcement, and investigated and dealt with a number of false and illegal advertising cases in accordance with the law. Since the beginning of this year, the market supervision departments of three provinces and one city have investigated and handled a total of 10,463 cases of various advertising violations, resulting in fines and confiscations of 57.7 million yuan. Twelve typical cases of illegal advertising are now selected for publication.
1. Shanghai Putuo District Market Supervision Bureau investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Shanghai Zongzheng Food Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Shanghai Zongzheng Food Co., Ltd., as the main operating entity of the Kuaishou platform "Dove Official Flagship Store", in August 2026, in order to promote the "Dove Chocolate Colorful Gift Box", it designed, produced and released in the store the words "Dove I have been wanting from my boyfriend for a long time" I didn’t buy a colorful gift box either. I shared it on TikTok with my romantic partner today while my boyfriend was away, and drove me 2 hours to deliver it. It’s very sweet.” Promotional videos with content such as “Infidelity in relationships” are packaged as “sweet experiences”, promote wrong views on marriage and love, and go against good social trends.
In October 2026, the Shanghai Putuo District Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 800,000 yuan on the party concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
2. Shanghai Chongming District Market Supervision Bureau investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Shanghai Zedi Information Technology Services Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Shanghai Zedi Information Technology Service Co., Ltd., in the process of promoting the "Fresh Live Wallpaper" mobile application it operates, commissioned a third party to design and produce it in September 2025, and placed page advertisements through the advertising alliance containing content such as "Awesome, congratulations! Mobile wallpaper membership + opportunity to open an 888 yuan red envelope" and other content. The landing page of the advertisement highlighted "888 yuan in cash red envelope", "confirm receipt" and "×× has received the red envelope benefit of watching the short drama". It only marked "Unlock 198 yuan" in small characters without explanation. After the user clicked "confirm receipt", it jumped to the member payment page. In fact, he had to pay a membership fee of 198 yuan to unlock the red envelope lottery opportunity. The probability of winning the lottery was 1 in 10,000. No user had won the prize at the time of the incident. The content of "×× has been received" was fictitious, triggering mass complaints. The above-mentioned behavior uses vague statements and false winning information to deceive and mislead consumers, violating the provisions of Article 11 (4) of the "Internet Advertising Management Measures".
In March 2026, Shanghai Chongming District Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to stop illegal activities and imposed an administrative penalty of 20,000 yuan in accordance with the relevant provisions of the "Internet Advertising Management Measures".
3. Shanghai Jinshan District Market Supervision Bureau investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Shanghai Baoyibu Jewelry Co., Ltd.
After investigation, in order to promote its gold jewelry recycling business, Shanghai Baoyibu Jewelry Co., Ltd. used AI tools to generate promotional articles from June to September 2026, which were briefly organized and released through the information website. The article contained "with the Shanghai Gold Exchange, major banks "We have established long-term and stable cooperative relationships with bank treasury and well-known jewelry brands", "Twenty years of deep industry development, and served over 100,000 transactions with zero disputes", "ISO9001 quality management certification", "Renewable resource recycling filing" and other false contents are inconsistent with the actual situation of the parties involved.
In November 2026, the Shanghai Jinshan District Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to make corrections and imposed an administrative penalty of 3,408 yuan in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
4. The Market Supervision Bureau of Qinhuai District, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Nanjing Wangting Enterprise Management Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Nanjing Wangting Enterprise Management Co., Ltd. used subway station light boxes to publish advertisements containing the content of "China's No. 1 Fresh Beef Hot Pot Brand". The market status confirmation certificate of a third-party organization quoted in this advertisement only selects one-sided indicators such as revenue and passenger flow to rank the "No. 1 brand". The evaluation model is incomplete and the statistical dimension is single. Moreover, the "fresh beef hot pot" category market currently has no legal statistical evaluation basis. The above conclusion lacks the support of scientific and comprehensive statistical argumentation, is not enough to objectively reflect the market competition pattern of this category, and can easily mislead consumers.
In June 2026, Nanjing Qinhuai District Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 10,000 yuan on the party concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
5. The Market Supervision Bureau of Pizhou City, Xuzhou City, Jiangsu Province investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Rugaobile (Jiangsu) Biotechnology Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Rugao Beile (Jiangsu) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. has opened stores on e-commerce platforms such as JD.com, Tmall, and Youzan to sell ordinary foods such as "Saibugao BL11 Probiotics" and "Andago BL11Pro Probiotics". The product details page contains "Helping children grow taller, 12 weeks The average height is 2.6cm, stimulates growth hormone secretion, improves sleep, is anti-allergic, regulates the intestines, improves bone structure, and treats short stature." It is claimed that the above-mentioned ordinary foods have disease treatment functions, which are not supported by scientific basis and authoritative verification conclusions, deceiving and misleading consumers.
In June 2026, the Pizhou Municipal Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 100,000 yuan on the party concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
6. The Market Supervision Bureau of Yanghe New District, Suqian City, Jiangsu Province investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Bojiu Network Technology (Suqian) Co., Ltd.
After investigation, when Bojiu.com Network Technology (Suqian) Co., Ltd. promoted and sold the "Juntai Green Iron Box" liquor in several of its live broadcast rooms, the anchor used phrases such as "My father is a representative of the small people", "This was brought over by his old comrades in Beijing for me to use at critical times", "Those who can drink it will have 'stripes and dots' hanging on their shoulders and chests" and other phrases. The liquor involved in the case is only ordinary food and does not have the attributes of special supply or exclusive supply. The father mentioned by the anchor is not a National People's Congress representative or a retired soldier. The parties used the live broadcast scenes to fabricate false information, create the illusion of high-end product scarcity, and deceive and mislead consumers.
In July 2026, the Market Supervision Bureau of Yanghe New District, Suqian City imposed an administrative penalty of 280,000 yuan on the party concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
7. The Market Supervision Bureau of Gongshu District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Hangzhou Zhanwan Culture Media Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Hangzhou Zhanwan Culture Media Co., Ltd. published 69 book promotion notes containing terms such as "the most complete", "the most beautiful" and "the most high-definition" in its online platform account from September 2024 to October 2025. At the bottom of the notes, there are product sales links directed to the store, which is a case of using "superlative" terms in advertising.
In July 2026, the Hangzhou Gongshu District Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 50,000 yuan on the party concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
8. Dongyang Market Supervision Bureau of Zhejiang Province investigated and dealt with illegal advertising cases of 5 companies including Dongyang Wenjiang Daily Necessities Co., Ltd.
After investigation, five companies, Dongyang Wenjiang Daily Necessities Co., Ltd., Yiwu Hecheng Trading Co., Ltd., Dongyang Xindu Cleaning Products Co., Ltd., Dongyang Honghang Daily Necessities Factory, and Dongyang Guoke Daily Necessities Co., Ltd., produce dust removal magic boxes, rat repellent powder and other daily chemical products. They also use a large number of fictitious names of foreign institutions such as "American Nobel" and "Germany's Munich Academy of Sciences" on e-commerce platforms and product packaging, and claim unproven efficacy data such as "cleaning rate 99.9%" and "rat repelling rate 99%" to deceive and mislead consumers.
In July 2026, the Dongyang Municipal Market Supervision Bureau ordered five companies to correct their illegal behaviors in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, and imposed administrative penalties of 40,000 yuan each, confiscated illegal products and illegal income, and fined and confiscated a total of 211,500 yuan.
9. The Market Supervision Bureau of Changxing County, Huzhou, Zhejiang Province investigated the illegal advertising case of Changxing Jinyue Real Estate Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Changxing Jinyue Real Estate Co., Ltd.'s "Group Project Distribution Map" Chinese map advertisement displayed on the exterior wall of the sales department omitted the Diaoyu Islands, Chiwei Island and the South China Sea Islands, and did not indicate the map approval number; it quoted third-party housing price data in the "Rim Taihu City Housing Price Map of Districts" without indicating the source, which harmed national interests.
In January 2026, the Changxing County Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 60,000 yuan on the party concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China.
10. The Market Supervision Bureau of Fuyang City, Anhui Province investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Anhui Zhenghutang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Anhui Zhenghutang Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. tampered with and fabricated the contents of the "Product Production Filing Instructions" without authorization during the application review process for some medical device products such as "Bianstone Patch", "Medical Antipyretic Gel", "Acupoint Pressure Stimulation Patch" and "Medical Ice Pad".
In January 2026, the Fuyang Municipal Market Supervision Bureau imposed an administrative penalty of 138,000 yuan on the party concerned in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China. The Anhui Provincial Market Supervision Bureau revoked the 839 Class I medical device advertising approval numbers submitted by the parties in accordance with the law, and will not accept the parties’ advertising review applications for three years.
11. The Market Supervision Bureau of Hefei City, Anhui Province investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Anhui Dake Education Technology Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Anhui Dake Education Technology Co., Ltd. published articles such as "Classmate Ma's Experience Sharing on Landing" and "Classmate Zhang's Counterattack Story" on its WeChat public account "Anhui Dake" on August 25 and September 15, 2025. The articles were accompanied by photos of students (coded) and detailed information such as majors, written test interview scores, and hiring units. The training results were promoted in the names of students and test scores, which could easily mislead consumers.
In February 2026, the Hefei Municipal Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to correct their illegal behavior in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China and imposed an administrative penalty of 10,000 yuan.
12. The Market Supervision Bureau of Wuhu City, Anhui Province investigated and dealt with the illegal advertising case of Wuwei Xuege Culture Media Co., Ltd.
After investigation, Wuwei Xuege Culture Media Co., Ltd. carried out live broadcast business activities on the Douyin platform. The actual operator Ye Moumou appeared on the scene. He borrowed the identities of relatives and friends to register and operate multiple accounts, and made profits through product commissions. The parties involved conducted false propaganda by fabricating the nature of "helping farmers", forging government cooperation background, falsely advertising the origin and attributes of colostrum goat milk powder and other foods, fabricating nutritional ingredients and qualification certificates, fabricating live broadcast locations and the identities of the people appearing on the camera, etc., deceiving and misleading consumers, and the rights and interests of some middle-aged and elderly consumers were harmed.
In May 2026, the Wuwei Municipal Market Supervision Bureau ordered the parties to correct their illegal behavior in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China and imposed an administrative penalty of a fine of 200,000 yuan.
