Native Whole Body Deodorant Lawsuit Says 72-Hour Odor Protection Claim Is False

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The maker of Native whole body deodorant faces a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the product is falsely advertised in that it cannot provide three days of odor protection and has never been clinically tested.

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The 19-page Native lawsuit accuses manufacturer Zenlen, Inc. of having “simply copied” the 72-hour odor protection claim from several other deodorants on the market while falsely adding that the product is “clinically proven”—and then charging “over 100% more than its competitors based on that false claim.”

In reality, no ingredient, or combination of ingredients, in the Native deodorant can produce the advertised results, the suit summarizes.

Per the complaint, the BBB National Programs' National Advertising Division has repeatedly stated that representations regarding whether a product has been “clinically proven” must closely match underlying scientific evidence that “establishes the truth of the claim,” as such a statement sends a strong message to consumers. The suit relays that shoppers are willing to pay a premium for natural deodorants scientifically proven to work as advertised, and manufacturers, the case says, “routinely mislead consumers” about the efficacy of their products.

The proposed class action alleges the success of the Unilever-owned Native whole body deodorant product line is “built on the lie” that the purportedly natural product is clinically proven to provide 72 hours of odor protection. The case contends that Native’s own instructions for use—namely that consumers should repeat applying the deodorant as needed throughout the day—further undercut the company’s 72-hour protection claim.

“In other words, Native makes the preposterous claim that it makes no difference how much of the spray a consumer uses and it should still provide 72-hour odor protection,” the suit reads. “However, the consumer may ‘repeat as needed throughout the day,’ which would no doubt be necessary considering that its ingredients have no lasting effect on odor.”

With regard to the product’s ingredients, the complaint shares that Native whole body deodorant is made with “denatured alcohol, fragrance, water, nitrogen, and dipropylene glycol.” According to the case, none of these ingredients, or any combination of them, has been proven to provide three days of odor protection.

“[T]here is no suggestion in any scientific literature that hand sanitizers or deodorants containing only denatured alcohol prevents bacterial formation for an entire day, much less three days. Water, of course, does not provide odor production [sic], and nitrogen is simply the spray propellant. Dipropylene glycol is merely a common solvent for delivering fragrances. Finally, there is no support in any scientific literature that a fragrance alone can prevent the accumulation of bacteria that causes body odor. All fragrance can do is help mask body odor by accompanying the natural body odor with a more pleasant scent, but it does not prevent body odor.”

Had consumers known that Native whole body deodorant was not clinically tested to provide 72 hours of odor protection, they would not have bought the product, or would have paid less for it, the case says.

The Native products lawsuit looks to cover all consumers who, within the applicable statute of limitations period, bought in New York Native whole body deodorant spray products warranted as “clinically proven to provide 72-hour odor protection.”

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