L'Oréal fails to dismiss lawsuit over wrinkle-smoothing collagen claims

L'Oréal has failed to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the company of deceiving consumers by suggesting that two topical collagen products help smooth wrinkles.

According to the original complaint, the plaintiffs Rocio Lopez and Rachel Lumbra filed a complaint in August 2021, claiming that L'Oréal violated New York and California consumer protection laws by defrauding them into paying for its Collagen Moisture Filler Day/Night Cream and its Fragrance-Free Collagen Moisture Filler Daily Moisturiser.

The complainants suggested that topically applied collagen is too big to be absorbed by the epidermis, which makes the products incapable of helping “smooth wrinkles” and “restore skin’s cushion” as the labels read.

Soon after the incident, L'Oréal has sought a dismissal, clarifying that it did not say a moisturiser containing collagen would be absorbed by the skin or could stimulate collagen production, and that reasonable consumers would not trust easily in the products’ names.

However, U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter said L'Oréal’s advertising and marketing of the products is false and misleading as L'Oréal prominently advertises on the front label of the products that they contain “collagen” that “restore skin’s cushion” and “smooth wrinkles.”  Therefore, consumers reasonably expect that the products will, in fact, provide skin-firming and anti-aging benefits.  

"Defendant employs professional cosmetic chemists and microbiologists to create and test the chemical formulas for the products. Therefore, the defendant knew or should have known that the products are incapable of smoothing wrinkles and restoring the skin’s cushion as warranted," the judge added. 

The judge said L'Oréal's deceptive acts and practices are misleading in a material way because they violate consumers’ reasonable expectations. "If the defendanthad advertised its products truthfully and in a non-misleading fashion, the plaintiffs and other New York Subclass Members would not have purchased the products or would not have paid as much as they did for them", the statement read.   

L'Oréal isn't the first to face similar lawsuit. Previously, Tesla was being sued for ‘false advertising' on its full self-driving car. According to a lawsuit brought about by Briggs A Matsko, seen by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE, the lawsuit was brought about “to hold Tesla and its representatives, including CEO Elon Musk, accountable for years of making misleading and deceptive statements regarding the company’s advanced driver assistance systems”.

The lawsuit alleges that for years, Tesla has deceptively and misleadingly marketed its ADAS technology as autonomous driving technology under various names, including “Autopilot,” “Enhanced Autopilot,” and “Full Self-Driving Capability” (“FSD”), the latter two of which Tesla charges consumers thousands of additional dollars to add to their new vehicle.

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