Tonymoly denies allegations of staging viral video of child covered in eyeliner

A clip from the viral Instagram video showing a child with gel eyeliner smeared across the face and hands. Captured from Instagram

Korean cosmetics brand Tonymoly has denied allegations that it orchestrated a marketing stunt involving a viral video of a young child with her face covered in eyeliner, calling the accusations “clearly false.”

A video posted recently on Instagram showed a small child crying in front of a mirror with gel eyeliner smeared across her entire face.

The uploader, the child’s mother, wrote that she had left her daughter with her older sister while receiving treatment for influenza A. “My sister was getting ready for a moment, and this is what happened,” the mother wrote. “It doesn’t even come off easily.” The clip has since drawn more than 20 million views.

While many social media users found the situation amusing and praised the waterproof performance of the eyeliner — identified as a Tonymoly product — the brand drew attention when its official account commented on the video. “The video was adorable, but it must have been difficult to remove since it’s a waterproof product,” the account wrote, adding that it would send additional items “as a token of appreciation.”

That comment fueled suspicion among some users that the video had been staged for advertising purposes. Comments included claims that “the eyeliner was applied too neatly for a child to have done it alone,” and accusations that, if an adult had applied it, the act would amount to child abuse.

As speculation intensified, the child’s mother addressed the controversy directly. She said that her sister had briefly stepped away after giving the child a snack, only to return to the unexpected scene. “We immediately took her to the bathroom and cleaned everything off with cleansing oil,” she wrote. “What parent would put a harmful product on their child’s face just to receive sponsorship?”

Tonymoly also issued a firm denial on its official Instagram account on Wednesday. “We clearly state that we have never engaged in any form of sponsorship, advertising, viral marketing or planned content related to the video that is currently making the rounds,” the company said. “Marketing involving children is an absolute taboo and something we would never consider under any circumstances.”

The brand added that it would take legal action against the continued spread of “malicious and false information.”

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.