Clinique Anti-Aging False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit

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Estee Lauder makes bogus advertising claims about the anti-aging qualities of its Clinique-branded products, according to a class action lawsuit filed last week.

Plaintiff Margaret Ohayon alleges in the Clinique class action lawsuit that Estee Lauder uses deceptive advertising tactics to lure thousands of consumers into believing its Clinique Repairwear, Youth Surge and Turnaround collection have the ability to make wrinkles “disappear,” rebuild firming collagen, and product other anti-aging benefits.

“As a result, Estee’s marketing pitch is the same as that of the quintessential snake-oil salesman – Estee dupes consumers with false and misleading promises of results it knows it cannot deliver, and does so with one goal in  mind – reaping enormous benefits,” the Clinique class action lawsuit states.

Estee Lauder is able to perpetuate the alleged false marketing scheme in several ways, according to the class action lawsuit, including by:

•  Selling Clinique products over the counter at department stores, instead of on drugstore and supermarket shelves, so that customers cannot make side-by-side packaging comparisons of less expensive products, thereby forcing them to rely on the company’s deceptive advertisements.
• Using before-and-after-photos of models that are photo-shopped, which leads consumers to believe they will achieve the same results.
• Creating a short product cycle, in which the company releases new products every few years based on “new research and ingredients” and discontinuing older products, despite their seemingly amazing scientific breakthroughs.

The Clinique class action lawsuit goes on to claim that if the products could actually “rebuild stores of natural collagen” or “deliver 63 percent of the visible wrinkle-reducing power of a laser procedure,” that they would be regulated by the FDA as a drug, which they are not.

The Clinique anti-aging class action lawsuit is brought on behalf of a proposed class of all consumers that purchased at least one Clinique product from the Repairwear, Youth Surge or Turnaround collection in the United States.

It is seeking compensatory, treble and punitive damages; restitution; injunctive relief and more for alleged breach of express warranty, unjust enrichment, and violations of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and consumer fraud laws of various states.

Estee Lauder was hit with a similar false advertising class action lawsuit in June over its Origins Plantscription anti-aging ads.

The Estee Lauder Clinique False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit case is Margaret Ohayon et al. v. Estee Lauder Inc. et al., Case No. 2:33-av-00001, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Ohayon is represented by James E. Cecchi, Caroline F. Bartlett and Zachary S. Bower of Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello PC and Jay W. Eisenhofer and Robert G. Eisler of Grant & Eisenhofer PA.

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