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- The consumer watchdog has fine Mosaic Brands Limited (MOZ) $630,000 after the company used false advertising to sell hand sanitisers and face masks
- Mosaic sold hundreds of thousands of the falsely advertised products during the height of COVID-19 restrictions
- One hand sanitiser product which claimed to contain 70 per cent alcohol contained only 17 per cent when tested
- The company has signed a court-enforceable undertaking agreeing to refund customers and implement a three-year compliance program
- MOZ shares are up 1.47 per cent, trading at 69c
The consumer watchdog has fined Mosaic Brands Limited (MOZ) $630,000 after the company used false advertising to sell hand sanitisers and face masks.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued five infringement notices to Mosaic Brands for false or misleading representations relating to hand sanitiser and face masks advertised on Mosaic Brands websites and via direct marketing between March and June 2020.
Mosaic sold tens of thousands of the falsely advertised products during the height of COVID-19 restrictions during the tight supply of hand sanitiser and face masks.
ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said: “After a complaint from CHOICE, independent testing of the hand sanitisers commissioned by the ACCC found that one of the sanitisers tested contained an alcohol content of 17 per cent and another had an alcohol content of 58 per cent, below the percentage advertised on Mosaic Brands’ websites in each case.
“This was also below the minimum 60 per cent alcohol concentration recommended by Australian health authorities.”
Mosaic Brands’ websites, such as NoniB and Katies, also advertised Velcare hand sanitiser with the tag-line ‘Protect yourself from viruses and germs during uncertain times with this 10 x Pack of 100ml WHO-approved Hand Sanitizer’. The World Health Organisation does not approve or certify hand sanitiser products.
“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,” Rickard said.
“Our investigation also found that Mosaic Brands’ Kids KN95 mask was not certified by European and US standard authorities as they had advertised.”
The company has signed a court-enforceable undertaking agreeing to refund customers and implement a three-year compliance program.
Yesterday the company informed investors their online sales were up 17 per cent and said it was forecasting $48 million earnings for FY 21.
Mosaic Brands is the largest speciality fashion retail group in Australia. It owns well-known fashion brands Noni B, Autograph, BeMe, Crossroads, Katies, Millers, Rivers, Rockmans and W.Lane and operates about 1210 stores nationally.
MOZ shares are up 1.47 per cent, trading at 69c at 3.35pm AEST.
