14 Brazen Lies That Got Brands Sued into Oblivion
It’ll cost your corporation more to lie about containing sugar than to lie about curing Alzheimer’s.
Was L’Oreal Doing Gene Therapy in 2014?
No. But they did claim to “boost genes” to promote “visibly younger skin,” incurring the wrath of the FTC. The wrath in question? The stern promise of a $16,000 fine if they did it again.
Walmart Made Up a ‘Sugar Tax’
After advertising Coca-Cola 12-packs for $3 nationwide, New York’s Attorney General concluded that charging $3.50 in the state because of a “sugar tax” was nothing more than price gouging. They were forced to pay an empire-crumbling $66,000.
Unfortunately, You Can’t Cure Alzheimer’s With an App
The FTC fined Luminosity $2 million for saying it could make you better at school and prevent the most notorious neurodegenerative disease on the planet. They wanted users to believe playing their little games for 30 minutes a week would be like taking the drug from Limitless.
Does Wearing a Shoe Burn Calories?
The American court system says no. New Balance had to pay out $2.3 million after claiming that their shoes use “hidden balance board technology” to engage your butt muscles and burn calories.
Snap, Crackle and Pop Are No Flintstones
The FTC ordered Kellogg to pay out $2.5 million to customers, and donate another $2.5 million to charity, after finding that Rice Krispies don’t actually boost immunity in children with “25 percent Daily Value of Antioxidants and Nutrients — Vitamins A, B, C and E.”
Mini-Wheats Ain’t Brain Food
Three years after lying about vitamins, Kellogg cited its “long history of responsible advertising” to argue that it shouldn’t pay out after promising that Mini-Wheats “boost focus by 20 percent.” They didn’t argue very successfully, and had to fork over $4 million.
Extenze Never Specified Which Part of the Male Body Was to Be Extended
After paying out a $6 million class-action lawsuit because it wasn’t, in fact, “scientifically proven” that it could “increase the size of a certain part of the male body,” the boner pill company added the disclaimer that the statement hadn’t yet been verified by the FDA.
Eclipse Says They Found a Magic Germ-Fighting Bark
The gum company claimed that the inclusion of magnolia bark gave their product germ-fighting properties. A court disagreed. They were forced to create a $6 million pool of money that would pay out up to $10 to anyone impacted by these claims.
Champaign for My Real Friends and Real Pain for Classmates.com
Classmates.com upsold users by telling them they had to upgrade to Gold membership to read a message from an old acquaintance (who didn’t actually exist). These fantom pals cost them a $9.5 million fine in 2008, then an $11 million fine when they pulled the stunt again in 2015.
Red Bull Gives You Anxiety Attacks and Nothing More
A longtime Red Bull customer got fed up after a decade of slurping down the sludge, and filed a complaint that the product lacks “the ability to ‘give you wings.’” Red Bull settled for $13 million.
Citrus Effervescence Can’t Kill Bacteria in Your Body
Airborne marketed itself as a brilliant invention by a teacher who was sick of getting sick, and biohacked a way to ward off germs and diseases. But the Center for Science in the Public Interest said you can’t placebo effect the flu away, and the company paid over $30 million.
Those Jamie Lee Curtis Yogurt Commercials Cost Dannon Millions
Dannon sold Activia at a 30 percent markup, justified by their “clinically proven” immune-boosting bacteria. This was legally proven to be completely garbage, and Dannon settled a class-action lawsuit for $45 million.
You Can’t Be a Sugar Substitute and Also Be Sugar
The Sugar Association successfully challenged Splenda’s claim to be “made from sugar,” seeking $200 million.
‘Clean Diesel’ Is, Obviously, an Oxymoron
Volkswagen claimed that its diesel cars had super low emissions, but were caught installing devices that hacked emissions tests to create the illusion of being environmentally friendly. The FTC got involved and ordered them to return $10 billion to customers.
