$3.3M Woolite settlement resolves Color Renew false advertising class action

(March 30, 2020)

Reckitt Benckiser has been hit with a class action lawsuit by a consumer claiming the company’s advertisements that their Woolite Darks laundry detergent “brings colors back” is false.

Plaintiff Steven Robert Prescott says that in 2017 and 2018 he purchased more than 10 bottles of Woolite Darks laundry detergent because he saw the “Color Renew” logo on the bottle. Based on this representation, Prescott believed that the Woolite Darks laundry detergent would revive the colors in his clothing.

The plaintiff claims that the defendant’s color renewal misrepresentations induced him into purchasing the product and he would not have done so if he knew that the product would not enhance the color in his clothing.

Prescott alleges in his class action lawsuit that Woolite Darks laundry detergent did not renew colors. In fact, he says the laundry that he washed with the detergent faded and he had to stop wearing the clothes that he washed using the detergent.

The Woolite class action says that the plaintiff stopped purchasing Woolite in late 2018 because the product failed to revive the color in his clothes.

Prescott claims that in 2017 the defendant introduced a new laundry detergent and began to represent that their Woolite Darks laundry detergent would bring back the color of clothing.

A logo on the product advertises the phrase “Color Renew” with a statement that says the detergent “revives colors,” according to the Woolite class action lawsuit.

In addition, the plaintiff argues that the defendant created a commercial that made statements that the Darks laundry detergent would “Bring the Color Back.”

Prescott alleges the company Procter & Gamble noticed that Reckitt Benckiser was claiming the Woolite detergent would “Bring the Color Back” and filed a challenge with the National Advertising Division in order to get the defendant to stop using that claim.

The National Advertising Division then filed a press release which stated that the defendant’s claims “convey objective performance messages regarding Woolite’s ability to improve the color of fabric” and that Reckitt Benckiser’s “data insufficient to support these messages and recommended that the claims be discontinued.”

The defendant agreed to comply with the NAD’s decision that they discontinue the “Brings Back the Color” and “Revives Color” claims, the Woolite class action lawsuit states.

However, despite this, the plaintiff maintains that Reckitt Benckiser continues to sell their Woolite Darks laundry detergent with statements mentioning that the product revives color. The company also has not taken down YouTube commercials which says the detergent will “Bring the Color Back.”

In addition, Prescott says that, through his counsel, he conducted objective testing certified by the American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATTC) on Woolite’s claim that the detergent will revive colors and that Woolite failed the objective testing. 

The plaintiff maintains that eight samples of cotton clothing were washed with Woolite laundry detergent. The eight samples of clothing lost a significant amount of color by the 10th wash with the Darks laundry detergent.

After 15 additional washes, the plaintiff alleges that the color still had not come back. Instead the eight samples had lost more color after 25 washes as compared to 10 washes, according to the Woolite class action lawsuit.

“Reckitt Benckiser’s misrepresentations induced Woolite Laundry Detergent purchasers (including Prescott) to purchase Woolite Laundry Detergent that they otherwise would not have purchased, because purchasers (including Prescott) believed that Woolite Laundry Detergent revived color in clothing,” the plaintiff maintains.

In addition, the defendant’s misrepresentations induced consumers into paying more for the Woolite Darks laundry detergent than they normally would have willing to pay, the plaintiff states.

Also, Prescott says that Reckitt Benckiser distorted the market price for Woolite Darks by artificially inflating the price of the detergent which caused the Woolite purchasers to pay a premium price for the product that they normally would not have paid.

“Reckitt Benckiser’s misrepresentations provided Reckitt Benckiser with an unfair competitive advantage over other sellers of laundry detergent, including Procter & Gamble (which sells Tide),” the Woolite class action lawsuit claims.

The questions of law present in this class action lawsuit are 1) whether the defendant misrepresented material facts about the detergent including the fact that it could not revive colors in clothing; 2) whether the defendant’s marketing of Woolite’s detergent would mislead reasonable consumers; and 3) the amount of money owed to potential Class Members because of the defendant’s practices.

Prospective Class Members include: “All residents of California who purchased Woolite Laundry Detergent from March 26, 2016 to the present (the ‘Class Period’).”

Did you use Woolite Darks laundry detergent thinking that it would revive colors? Leave a message in the comments section below.

The plaintiff is represented by Theodore J. Leopold, Geoffrey Graber, Eric Kafka of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC and Charles Reichmann of the Law Offices of Charles Reichmann.

The Woolite Darks laundry detergent class action lawsuit is Steven Robert Prescott, et al. v. Reckitt Benckiser, Case No. 3:20-cv-02101, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.