DANOZ Direct has launched a corrective advertising campaign following the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s declaration that its ads for the Abtronic Fitness System were misleading and deceptive to consumers.
Among the claims the ACCC declared misleading or deceptive were:
10 minutes’ use of the Abtronic was the equivalent of up to 600 sit-ups;
the Abtronic could flatten a person’s stomach once and for all;
the Abtronic had a fat and cellulite blaster setting that could work on fat and not on a person’s muscles;
the Abtronic could firm, tone and tighten the upper ‘abs’, lower abs and ‘love handles’, with no sweat.
The Federal Court also declared that Danoz Direct made a false representation when it claimed that the Abtronic normally sold for $220 when it had always been sold for $165.
Justice Dowsett of the Brisbane Federal Court ordered that public announcements be broadcast by Danoz Direct during Network Ten’s Good Morning Australia and Bright Ideas programs for a period of two weeks and during late night hours on the Network Seven and Network Ten.
The court also ordered that a consumer notice appear in The Australian, on Danoz Direct’s Web site and in its catalogue.
Danoz Direct spokesperson Liz Diles said it was the first time in 10 years the company had received such a ruling from the ACCC.
She said the Abtronic infomercial had come out of the US and Danoz had not checked the claims made by the manufacturer. “We don’t produce our own infomercials, we Australianise it,” Diles said.
She said just under 100,000 Abtronics had been purchased in Australia.
Diles added that the matter had been taken very seriously by Danoz Direct and was proud of the way it had been handled.
