Tingey Injury Law Firm via Unsplash
Hismile, an Australian oral and personal care company, has paid $138,600 in penalties after the ACCC issued seven infringement notices for false and misleading representations across its social media advertising.
The infringement relates to Hismile's social media videos in which it presented employees as ‘random shoppers’ in a public setting, representing them as unbiasedly expressing satisfaction with its products.
The ACCC also took issue with Hismile's promotion of its Glostik Tooth Gloss product, alleging videos gave consumers the misleading impression the product would remove tooth stains when it only temporarily conceals them.
"Misleading social media advertisements can reach millions of consumers and may impact their purchasing decisions," said Luke Woodward, commissioner at the ACCC.
"All businesses must ensure they are not making misleading or deceptive claims on social media platforms."
"Hismile has admitted that its conduct in posting these videos to social media was, or was likely, misleading, in breach of the Australian Consumer Law," said Woodward.
"As a result of these social media videos, consumers may have been misled into buying products that did not have the results promoted by Hismile."
Hismile has provided a court-enforceable undertaking as part of the resolution.
The company will establish a competition and consumer law compliance programme and publish a notice on its website and social platforms informing consumers about the ACCC action.
Hismile has also agreed not to represent staff as random members of the public providing testimonials or reviews, and not to represent that Glostik Tooth Gloss or any other product produces permanent results when this is not the case.
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