"Thought It Was a New Product": Korean Brand Under Fire for Allegedly Copying Tokyo Banana

Controversy is growing online over "Tokyo Berry," a domestic fresh fruit mochi brand sold even in department stores, with critics saying it strongly reminds consumers of the famous Japanese dessert brand "Tokyo Banana."

The controversy started with the packaging design.

Reactions poured in pointing out that the illustration expression and placement, the English typeface and letter spacing of the brand logo, and the packaging design are all nearly identical to Tokyo Banana.

Consumers expressed reactions such as, "I thought it was a new product from Tokyo Banana," and "I thought it was a new brand from the same company."


The promotional methods also came under fire.

Criticism has emerged that Tokyo Berry used phrases like "the exact sensibility of Tokyo" and introduced itself at pop-up stores as "Japanese premium fresh fruit mochi," leading people to mistakenly believe it is an actual Japanese brand.

Some department stores that operated the pop-ups have taken response measures, such as refraining from holding additional events or considering early termination.

As the controversy grew, Tokyo Berry switched most of the promotional posts on its official social media to private.

(Photo Source: Online Community)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.