When red is the only color your skin turns, you tend to take note of the sunblock products that work. After all, it’s a bit obvious when a particular line of sunscreen fails. Pictured is one of my personal favorites, Coppertone’s sensitive skin SPF 50.
But under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, what’s obvious to the consumer can have little bearing on the outcome. New Jersey-based Merck just settled a longstanding class action lawsuit in which plaintiffs claim that the power of Coppertone was overstated in advertising, using words such as “waterproof,” “sweatproof,” and (shocker) “sunblock.”
Originally developed by Schering-Plough, Merck acquired Coppertone (and its lawsuit) when it bought Schering in 2009. The case was originally filed in 2003. And consumers, like me, readily used Coppertone products in ignorant bliss in the interim, unaware that our UVA-protected skin wasn’t as protected as the attorneys in this case contend.
Here’s how things will change under the settlement: Coppertone will stop using the words “sunblock,” “waterproof,” “sweatproof,” and “all day” on its labeling. The content of the sunscreen will remain the same. Yes, the same. And under this $3- $10 million settlement, I will get $1.50. According to Reuters, Merck stated that it agreed to the settlement “solely for the purpose of avoiding the burden, expense, risk and uncertainty of continuing to litigate those issues.”
Nice of the lawyers to reward me with $1.50 for my patronage and leave my product formula intact. Heck, for $1.50 I can get:
- 3 postage stamps;
- 1/3 of a latte;
- One-way bus fare in Los Angeles
I can’t get a bottle of sunblock, but apparently that’s beside the point.
Now if only I could figure out how to collect.
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