Rihanna’s Lingerie Line Accused of Deceptive Marketing

The group also said that ads for the line from social media influencers could be deceptive.

Savage x Fenty denied the claims. “These accusations are false and based on misconceptions of our business,” Emma Tully, a representative for the line, said in an email.

“At Savage x Fenty, we believe strongly in transparency, which is why we provide multiple disclosures of membership terms throughout the shopping experience, within advertisements, and through our ambassador engagement policies,” she said.

The complaint from Truth in Advertising involves the pervasiveness of so-called negative-option billing online, which refers to the practice of companies charging consumers for a service unless it is specifically declined.

“A lot of consumers really love the fact that this brand is championing female empowerment and inclusiveness, and so they are very willing to purchase products from this website,” Bonnie Patten, the executive director of Truth in Advertising, said in an interview. “What they don’t understand is that the prices they’re seeing on social media are prices for joining a membership, and because of the way the checkout process works, they are unwittingly being put into a subscription model.”

When customers add items from the site to a shopping cart, a “Savage x Monthly Membership” is automatically added. To check out, customers have to proactively remove it, which may cause the price of items to rise sharply.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/11/business/rihannas-savage-x-fenty-deceptive-marketing.html?emc=rss&partner=rss