US shoe firm gets kicked for butt claims
US shoemaker Skechers is to pay $40 million to settle claims that it deceived consumers by suggesting its sports shoes could help tone their butts and lose weight, officials said Wednesday.
In an agreement similar to one last year against Reebok, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said purchasers of the California-based firm's Shape-up, Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-up shoe ranges can apply for refunds.
The Shape-ups ads featured stars including Kim Kardashian and Brooke Burke. In one which aired during the 2011 Super Bowl, Kardashian was shown dumping her personal trainer for a pair of Shape-ups.
"Skechers' unfounded claims went beyond stronger and more toned muscles. The company even made claims about weight loss and cardiovascular health," said David Vladeck, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.
"The FTC's message, for Skechers and other national advertisers, is to shape up your substantiation or tone down your claims," he added.
California Attorney General Kamala Harris added: "Consumers shouldn't be duped into paying more for products with false promises of weight loss and other benefits."
The settlement was part of a wider agreement resulting from an investigation involving 44 states and the District of Columbia.
Last September, sportswear giant Reebok, a unit of the German group Adidas, agreed to pay $25 million in customer refunds to purchasers of its EasyTone walking shoes and RunTone running shoes.
(c) 2012 AFP
-
No butts: Reebok slapped in US on rear-toning claims
Sep 28, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
FTC, diet pill marketers settle for $25M
Jan 05, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
US cracks down on acai berry sellers
Apr 19, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
US says pomegranate juice firm made false health claims
Sep 28, 2010 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Group disputes cancer claims on One A Day vitamins
Jun 19, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Classical and Quantum Mechanics via Lie algebras
Apr 15, 2011
- More from Physics Forums - Independent Research
More news stories
Vermont becomes third US state to legalize assisted suicide
Vermont became on Monday the third US state to legalize physician-assisted suicide.
Other
9 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Food laboratory accuracy remains a concern
Food microbiology laboratories continue to submit false negative results and false positive results on a routine basis. A retrospective study of nearly 40,000 proficiency test results over the past 14 years, presented today ...
Other
14 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Wireless ultrasound transducers help physicians
Siemens has presented the world's first ultrasound system with wireless transducers. The system's transducers, which can be easily operated with one hand, transmit ultrasound images via radio waves to the ...
Other
19 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Flesh-eating disease victim gets prosthetic hands
(AP)—A woman who lost both hands, her left leg and right foot after contracting a flesh-eating disease has been fitted with prosthetic hands.
Other
May 18, 2013 |
not rated yet |
0
Illinois Senate approves medical marijuana bill
(AP)—Medical marijuana use in Illinois is now in Gov. Pat Quinn's hands after the state Senate approved legislation.
Other
May 17, 2013 |
5 / 5 (1) |
1
Early-life traffic-related air pollution exposure linked to hyperactivity
Early-life exposure to traffic-related air pollution was significantly associated with higher hyperactivity scores at age 7, according to new research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) and Cincinnati Children's Hospital ...
New immune system discovered
(Medical Xpress)—A research team, led by Jeremy Barr, a biology post-doctoral fellow, unveils a new immune system that protects humans and animals from infection.
The compound in the Mediterranean diet that makes cancer cells 'mortal'
New research suggests that a compound abundant in the Mediterranean diet takes away cancer cells' "superpower" to escape death. By altering a very specific step in gene regulation, this compound essentially re-educates cancer ...
Do salamanders hold the solution to regeneration?
Salamanders' immune systems are key to their remarkable ability to regrow limbs, and could also underpin their ability to regenerate spinal cords, brain tissue and even parts of their hearts, scientists have ...
Scientists identify molecular trigger for Alzheimer's disease
Researchers have pinpointed a catalytic trigger for the onset of Alzheimer's disease – when the fundamental structure of a protein molecule changes to cause a chain reaction that leads to the death of neurons ...
Resistance to last-line antibiotic makes bacteria resistant to immune system
Bacteria resistant to the antibiotic colistin are also commonly resistant to antimicrobial substances made by the human body, according to a study in mBio, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microb ...
