The Federal Trade Commission hit the Razer fined $1.1 million on Tuesday. The order alleges that the toy accessory maker misled consumers by claiming that Zephyr’s fancy mask was certified as N95 class.
“These businesses falsely claimed, in the midst of a global pandemic, that their face mask was equivalent to a certified N95 respirator,” the FTC’s Office of Consumer Advocacy Director Samuel Levine noted in a statement. “The FTC will continue to hold accountable businesses that use false and unsubstantiated claims to target consumers making decisions about their health and safety.”
Razer was expected to push back against the committee’s allegations.
“We dispute the FTC’s allegations and have not admitted any wrongdoing as part of the settlement,” a company spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch. “It was never our intention to mislead anyone, and we chose to settle this matter to avoid the distraction and disruption of the litigation process and continue to focus on creating great products for players. Razer cares deeply about our community and is always striving to deliver technology in new and relevant ways.”
The company went on to say that the complaint was upheld, adding that it was doing everything it could to refund customers and end sales of the Zephyr.
“The Razer Zephyr was designed to offer a different and innovative face mask option for the community,” he notes. “The FTC’s claims against Razer related to limited portions of some of the Zephyr-related statements. More than two years ago, Razer proactively notified customers that the Zephyr was not an N95 mask, discontinued sales, and refunded customers.”
The FTC also officially bans sales of the mask and “making false health claims related to COVID or unsubstantiated health claims about protective health equipment.” He goes a step further, “ban[ing] defendants to represent the health benefits, performance, efficacy, safety or side effects of protective goods and services (as defined in the proposed series), unless they have competent and reliable scientific evidence to support the claims made. »
The filing suggests Razer intentionally misled consumers into thinking the $100 mask would protect against COVID. The virus was certainly top of mind when the product first dropped in October 2021.
The decision is currently awaiting approval and signature by a District Court judge.
