Deceptive ads: FTC tells L’Oreal to get real

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FTC / Federal Trade CommissionThe cosmetics company made claims that the anti-aging qualities of some of its products were “clinically proven,” but apparently couldn’t provide any of that proof to the Federal Trade Commission.


The claims, made in nationally distributed advertisements, were that certain products, including Lancôme Génifique and L’Oréal Paris Youth Code skincare products, worked on the users’ genes to produce their beneficial anti-aging results. They said it was “clinically proven” that users would have “visibly younger skin in just 7 days.”

The FTC stated, “Under the final order, L’Oréal is prohibited from claiming that any Lancôme brand or L’Oréal Paris brand facial skincare product targets or boosts the activity of genes to make skin look or act younger, or respond five times faster to aggressors like stress, fatigue, and aging, unless the company has competent and reliable scientific evidence substantiating such claims. The final order also bars the company from claiming that certain Lancôme brand and L’Oréal Paris brand products affect genes, unless the claims are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Finally, L’Oréal is prohibited from making claims about these products that misrepresent the results of any test or study.”

RBR-TVBR observation: We would have to say that L’Oreal got off easy on this one, basically getting hit with a cease and desist order. Sometimes these kinds of FTC proceedings can result in millions of dollars in penalties.