Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure, Li Jie International and Fubon Multimedia Technology

Case:

Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure, Li Jie International and Fubon Multimedia Technology violated the Fair Trade Law for false advertising

Key Word(s):

False advertising, paint, mold-preventing and bacteria-fighting

Reference:

Fair Trade Commission Decision of October 8, 2014 (the 1196th Commissioners' Meeting); Dispositions Kung Ch'u Tzu No.103109 and No.103110

Industry:

Retail Sale via Mail Order Houses or via Internet (4871)

Relevant Law(s):

Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade Law

Summary:

1. The FTC received complaints asserting that:

   (1)

   A commercial of "7792 water-proofing, anti-cracking and wall mold-preventing photocatalyst paint" broadcasted on ET Mall TV Shopping channel, Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co., Ltd., and Li Jie International Enterprise Co. claiming the product could prevent mold and fight bacteria. When applied on toilet paper, the toilet paper would stay completely dry. The product only needed to be painted on one side of the wall to be water-proofing on both sides. It could also fill up cracks and the elasticity would keep it from breaking. False and untrue advertising was suspected.

   (2)

   A commercial broadcasted on MOMO Shopping channel for a "Mei Lai Yin Qu 3-in-one water-proofing and mold-removing wall-repairing agent," Fubon Multimedia Technology Co., Ltd. and Li Jie International Enterprise Co. claimed the product had the effects of removing mold and fighting bacteria with a 99.96% performance rate. When applied on toilet paper, the toilet paper would stay completely dry. The product only needed to be painted on one side of the wall to be water-proofing on both sides. It could also fill up cracks and the elasticity would keep it from breaking. False and untrue advertising was suspected.

2. Despite the slight wording difference, the two commercials were both intended to claim that "7792 water-proofing, anti-cracking and wall mold-preventing photocatalyst paint" and "Mei Lai Yin Qu 3-in-one water-proofing and mold-removing wall-repairing agent" could prevent mold and fight bacteria. When applied on toilet paper, the toilet paper would remain completely dry whereas application of the products on one side of the wall could have the effect of water-proofing on both sides. Moreover, it had been claimed that both products could fill up cracks and their elasticity would keep them from breaking. The commercials gave consumers the impression that they indeed had the effects as advertised. However, according to the professional opinion offered by the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the JIS Z2801: 2000 test method used on the said products as indicated in the test reports from Super Laboratory Co., Ltd. was not appropriate for the assessment of the bacteria-fighting performance or mold-prevention performance of photocatalyst bacteria-fighting products. In addition, the test reports did not comply with the regulations for the JIS Z2801, namely 2000 test method. Therefore, the test results could not be accepted to support the claims posted in the said commercials. Meanwhile, the data provided in the test reports from Super Laboratory Co., Ltd. could only illustrate that the samples tested had a certain level of capacity to resist breaking and to stretch and transform. Without further evidences, they could not serve as the proof of the effects claimed in the commercials.
3. Furthermore, the material used in Li Jie International Enterprise Co.'s demonstration in the commercials, was paper napkins, rather than toilet paper as advertised. At the same time, the truth was the paper napkins, the cross-sections and other props had been prepared before the commercials were shot because the effects would take certain amount of time to achieve. As the commercials did not reveal this, viewers could never find out what really happened. With all the above considered collectively, Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co., Ltd., Li Jie International Enterprise Co., and Fubon Multimedia Technology Co., Ltd. were, besides the evidence mentioned earlier, unable to provide any other objective and concrete evidence or test reports to support the claims in the commercials. In other words, the claims in the commercials had no basis and constituted false, untrue and misleading representations in violation of Article 21(1) of the Fair Trade Law. Therefore, the FTC cited the first section of Article 41(1) of the Fair Trade Law and imposed an administrative fine of NT$80,000 on Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co., Ltd., NT$50,000 on Fubon Multimedia Technology Co., Ltd., and NT$100,000 on Li Jie International Enterprise Co.

Appendix:
Eastern Home Shopping & Leisure Co., Ltd.'s Uniform Invoice Number: 22456427
Fubon Multimedia Technology Co., Ltd. 's Uniform Invoice Number: 27365925
Li Jie International Enterprise Co.’s Uniform Invoice Number: 10527860