Pure Instinct Lawsuit Alleges Pheromone Product Efficacy Claims Are ‘Scientifically False’

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges W.T.F.N. Inc. and Oui Lab, Inc. have misled consumers by advertising that their Pure Instinct pheromone products are “human-compatible” and, therefore, capable of influencing or attracting other people.

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According to the 30-page Pure Instinct lawsuit, the fragrance and oil products are marketed as “pheromone infused” or containing “human-compatible” pheromones such as copulin and androstadienone that are “capable of influencing moods, emotions and affections and triggering social responses.” However, the suit claims the representations are “scientifically false” since humans lack a functional vomeronasal organ in the nose and, as a result, “do not emit and cannot detect pheromones.”

The products at issue in the false advertising case include:

• Pure Instinct Fallen Pheromone Perfume Spray;
• Pure Instinct For Her Pheromone Perfume Spray;
• Pure Instinct True Blue Unisex Pheromone Perfume Spray;
• Pure Instinct For Him Pheromone Cologne Spray;
• Pure Instinct Surrender Roll-On Pheromone Perfume Oil;
• Pure Instinct Fallen Roll-On Pheromone Perfume Oil;
• Pure Instinct Lucky Roll-On Pheromone Perfume Oil;
• Pure Instinct Original Roll-On Pheromone Perfume;
• Pure Instinct Crave Roll-On Pheromone Perfume;
• Pure Instinct For Her Roll-On Pheromone Perfume Oil;
• Pure Instinct Original Pheromone Infused Essential Oil;
• Pure Instinct For Her Pheromone Infused Essential Perfume Oil;
• Pure Instinct For Him Roll-On Pheromone Cologne Oil;
• Pure Instinct True Blue Pheromone Body Spray; and
• Pure Instinct True Blue Pheromone Massage Lotion.

Studies indicate that the human vomeronasal organ lacks critical neural connections and sensory cells to detect pheromones in any capacity, the complaint explains. As such, the filing contends that shoppers are “wasting their money” on the Pure Instinct products at issue, which the lawsuit calls “wholly worthless.”

Moreover, the representation that the products contain “human-compatible” pheromones is deceptive in its own right, the suit argues. In fact, the chemicals the items tout as “human-compatible”—copulin and androstadienone—are not human pheromones based on scientific research, the case relays.

The complaint further alleges that the items are misbranded drugs under U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations and, therefore, illegal to sell. Pursuant to the FDA, an aphrodisiac drug product—that is, any item claiming to “arouse or increase sexual desire”—must receive the agency’s approval before being lawfully sold to consumers, the filing says.

“Thus, without FDA approval, the Products are misbranded as aphrodisiac drug products under federal and California law,” the case asserts.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased one or more of the Pure Instinct products listed on this page during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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