Online national retailer Riff Raff Baby has paid penalties of $132,000 after competition watchdog ACCC issued it with eight infringement notices for allegedly making false or misleading statements about its comforter toys being safe for sleep from birth.
Riff Raff has also provided the ACCC with a court-enforceable undertaking in which it admits that the advertisements for its sleep aid toys were likely to have breached the Australian Consumer Law.
Riff Raff advertised its sleep aid comforters for sale on its website, Facebook and Instagram pages, with frequent images of sleeping babies and prominent statements including:
“we always recommend the introduction of your Riff Raff Sleep Toy from birth where possible”
Did you introduce your Riff Raff from birth? If you didn’t…, do you wish you had?” and
“designed with safety in mind.”
The sleep aid toys involved are Bandit the Racoon; Banjo the Bear; Clover the Bunny; Kirra the Koala; Riff the Fox; and Raffy the Fawn.
“Based on these advertisements by Riff Raff, parents and caregivers may have thought that these products are safe for babies to sleep next to in an unsupervised sleep environment, when in fact there are serious safety risks,” ACCC Deputy Chair, Catriona Lowe said.
"These types of products can cover a baby’s nose and mouth, which can pose a risk of fatal suffocation.
“Every consumer who purchased one of these sleep aid toys should ensure they are not used in a sleep environment in close proximity to an unsupervised sleeping baby under seven months old, due to the suffocation risk.”
“Retailers must be extremely careful when promoting and selling baby and children’s products that they do not mislead consumers about safety."
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