ACCC fines Rivers and Noni B parent company Mosaic Brands for misleading advertising
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has fined the fashion retail group Mosaic Brands $630,000 for breaching Australian consumer law in its promotion of pandemic related products.
The company has paid the fine and admitted to the breach.
One of Mosaic Brands’ alleged misleading advertisements on its site
The ACCC had issued five notices to Mosaic Brands for misleading advertisements for hand sanitisers and face masks between March and June 2020.
The advertisements on the website and through Mosaic’s direct marketing were advertising Air Clean hand sanitiser as 70% alcohol when the ACCC found it was 17%; Miaouye hand sanitiser as 75% alcohol when it was found to be 58%; Velcare-branded hand sanitisers as “WHO [World Health Organisation] approved” when they were not; KN95 Kids Safety Face Masks as “CE/FDA certified” when they were not, and KN 95 Adult Face Masks as “non-refundable” when consumers have a statutory right to a refund.
Delia Rickard, deputy chair of the ACCC, said: “Businesses must never mislead their customers about the certification, quality or properties of their products, but we were particularly concerned about the representations by Mosaic Brands because the statements which Mosaic Brands has admitted were false or misleading related to certain protective health properties at the time of a global pandemic.”
To address the ACCC’s concerns, in addition to the fine, Mosaic Brands has agreed to offer refunds to consumers affected, enact an annual independent review, and implement policies and procedures to prevent further breaches of Australian Consumer Law.
The ACCC has statutory authority to issue infringement notices of Australian Consumer Law.
Earlier this week, Pete Evans was fined $80,000 by the TGA for misleading advertising of COVID related products.
Mosaic Brands’ brands include Noni B, Autograph, Crossroads, Millers and Rivers.
Mosaic Brands has been contacted for comment.
Got a tip?
topics
ACCC
Australian Competition & Commission
Autograph
Crossroads
Delia Rickard
Millers
Mosaic Brands
Noni B
Rivers
