Famed actor fined for endorsing illegal health product

A famous mainland actor was recently fined nearly 260,000 yuan (US$37,362) by Shanghai's market watchdog for endorsing an illegal health product in an advertisement.

Chinese mainland actor Pan Yueming, who starred in the popular online TV series adapted from fantasy novel series "Ghost Blows Out the Light," had illegal gains totaling 258,000 yuan confiscated as a result.

In the 60-second advertisement of Ichi More, a beverage, Pan held the beverage and claimed it "can relieve fatigue and enhance immunity."

Celebrities are banned from making recommendations or certifying health products in ads based on China's advertisement law.

Moreover, the ad did not mark "the product could not replace medicines" as per the law.

Shanghai Dongke Trading Co Ltd, which released the ad on Douyin, China's version of TikTok; the Twitter-like Weibo; and social media platform Xiaohongshu, was fined 1.12 million yuan for the irregularity, according to the Shanghai Administration for Market Regulation.