In January 2021, at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the gaming hardware and accessory maker Razer announced Project Hazel. It was billed as a high-end mask with filters that would keep out 95 percent of any airborne particles. Oh, and it had Chroma RGB lighting, which is something of an Razer tradition.
In October 2021, Razer started selling these masks, under the name Zephyr, starting at $99.99. Razer said at the time that the filters on the mask were N95-certified. There was just one problem; that claim was not true.
Today, the US Federal Trade Commission announced a proposed settlement with Razer. Under its terms, the company would issue a total of over $1.1 million in refunds to people who bought the Zephyr mask.
The press release from the agency stated:
According to the FTC, while Razer advertised the Zephyr masks as N95-grade, they never even submitted them for testing to the FDA or National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and the masks were never certified as N95. The complaint alleges that Razer only stopped the false advertising following negative press coverage and consumer outrage at the deceptive claims.
The amount includes a $100,000 civil penalty that Razer would pay to the FTC in addition to the refunds to its customers. The order also prohibits Razer from stating any health benefits from its products and services "unless they have competent and reliable scientific evidence to support the claims made."
The FTC order also bans Razer from the use of any marketing and advertising of its products that show connections "to any government entity" along with the use of any logos or trademarks from government agencies that could employ that those agencies have approved a Razer product.
The proposed settlement must still be approved by a US judge. Assuming that happens, there's no word on when Razer plans to send out those refunds.
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