Class Action Claims ‘Kid Tax’ Factored into Price for Banana Boat Simply Protect Baby Sunscreen Stick

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A proposed class action alleges the maker of Banana Boat sunscreen wrongfully charges consumers significantly more for its Simply Protect Baby sunscreen stick than the Sport Ultra adult variety, even though the two products are “substantively identical.”

According to the 13-page lawsuit, Banana Boat maker Edgewell Care Brands essentially charges a “kid tax” for the SPF 50 baby sunscreen stick, which is positioned as specifically designed for babies and containing “25% fewer ingredients.” The complaint states that the Simply Protect Baby and Sport Ultra sunscreen sticks, despite their “significantly different” prices, contain the same active and inactive ingredients in the same relative amounts. 

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“On a per ounce basis, the Baby version is $13.52 and the Adult version is $5.31,” the lawsuit says. “This means the Baby version is priced over 254 percent more than the identical Adult version.” 

The case explains that in the past decade, Congress has sought to end what’s called the “pink tax,” the phenomenon whereby personal care products marketed toward women are priced higher than the men’s version of the same items. Per the complaint, women regularly pay at least 25 percent more for personal care products, even though they are substantively identical to their men’s counterparts, save for variations in color and a few inactive ingredients. 

One variation of the “pink tax” exists for the price differential between products marketed as for children and adults, the suit says. Overall, the “kid tax” imposes additional costs on parents with children and exists because studies have shown that parents are generally “less sensitive” toward paying more for products specifically formulated for their children, the lawsuit relays. 

“No substantive or legitimate differences in the Products reasonably justifies the Baby version being priced over 250% higher than the Adult version,” the suit contends. 

The lawsuit looks to cover consumers in Illinois, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, West Virginia, Louisiana, Nebraska, Kansas, Montana and South Carolina who bought the Banana Boat Simply Protect Baby sunscreen stick during the applicable statute of limitations period. 

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