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It is said that the product contains 92% aloe vera gel, but it is actually only 0.4%! Watsons was fined for false propaganda

author:Southern Metropolis Daily

According to the official website of the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, Wuhan Watsons Personal Products Store Co., Ltd. was recently fined 4,263 yuan by the Hanyang District Market Supervision Administration for claiming that its products contained "92% aloe vera gel" but actually only 0.4%.

On March 12, a reporter from Nandu Wancai called Watsons through official channels, but the phone could not be connected. Nandu Bay Finance Agency reporters searched for the product involved in its official flagship store, but there were no search results, and the customer service of Watson's flagship store responded that there was no such product for sale at present.

It is said that the product contains 92% aloe vera gel, but it is actually only 0.4%! Watsons was fined for false propaganda

Screenshot of the official website of the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System

Punish:

Watsons claims that 92% aloe vera gel is actually only 0.4%

Claims such as "hydrating acne", "no preservatives" and "ancestors" failed to provide evidence

According to the penalty information, after investigation, starting from August 2021, Wuhan Watsons Personal Products Store Co., Ltd. released an advertisement for the product "Watsons Korea Nature Park Nayichel Aloe Vera Soothing Moisturizing Gel Refreshing and Gentle Moisturizing 300mL" on the official flagship store of Watsons on the Tmall platform, claiming that its "92% aloe vera original solution ingredients" and "92% aloe vera gel" were advertised.

It is said that the product contains 92% aloe vera gel, but it is actually only 0.4%! Watsons was fined for false propaganda

Image source network

The product Chinese label provided by the company shows that the product name "aloe vera" refers to the ingredient "aloe vera leaf juice", and the "92% aloe vera leaf juice" in the packaging picture refers to the overall addition of the No. 1 ingredient containing the ingredient aloe barbadensis leaf juice is 92%, but the actual amount of aloe barbadensis leaf juice is 0.414%". "92% aloe vera stock solution ingredients" The advertising slogan of "92% aloe vera gel" does not match the composition of the product.

In addition, the company used advertising slogans such as "hydrating acne", "preservative-free aloe vera gel formula without preservatives" and "ancestor", but did not provide relevant supporting materials.

The Hanyang District Administration for Market Regulation held that Wuhan Watsons Personal Products Store Co., Ltd. violated the Advertising Law of the People's Republic of China, ordered it to stop publishing false advertisements, eliminated the impact within the corresponding scope, and fined it 4,263 yuan.

It is said that the product contains 92% aloe vera gel, but it is actually only 0.4%! Watsons was fined for false propaganda

Screenshot of the official website of the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System

Watsons customer service responded

At present, there are no products involved

On March 12, a reporter from Nandu Wancai called Watsons through official channels, but the phone could not be connected.

Nandu Bay Finance Agency reporter searched for the name of the product involved in the official flagship store of Tmall Watsons, and there was no corresponding search result, and the customer service responded that there was no such product at present.

It is said that the product contains 92% aloe vera gel, but it is actually only 0.4%! Watsons was fined for false propaganda

Correlation:

Watsons was fined several times

Involved in selling goods price gouging, false advertising, etc

According to Watsons' official website, Watsons Group was founded in 1841 and has grown into a world-renowned international health and beauty retailer, operating more than 16,300 stores in 28 markets. According to public information, A.S. Watson Group is an international retail and food manufacturing organization under CK Hutchison Limited. According to the Tianyan investigation, Wuhan Watsons Personal Products Store Co., Ltd. was established in 2010, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Gewo (Hong Kong) Investment Co., Ltd.

The reporter of Nandu Bay Finance Agency noted that Watsons had been fined many times before, involving price fraud on sales goods and publishing false advertisements.

As previously reported by Nandu, the branch of Shijiazhuang Watsons Personal Products Store Co., Ltd. Langfang Gu'an Baode Shopping Center was fined 50,000 yuan by the Gu'an County Market Supervision Administration in June 2022 for selling commodity price fraud. According to the administrative penalty decision, when the law enforcement personnel conducted an on-site inspection of the store, they found that the store logo had several promotional signs such as the original price of the product and the current price. However, the law enforcement officers retrieved the sales records of the relevant commodities and found no records of the original price transactions.

On May 10, 2022, the Yanqing Yushui North Street Branch of Beijing Watsons Personal Products Chain Store Co., Ltd. was fined RMB 50,000 by the Beijing Yanqing District Market Supervision Bureau for allegedly using false price methods to trick consumers into trading with it. The Beijing Yanqing District Administration for Market Regulation found that the transaction price of the relevant goods in the store's promotional activities was 44.10 yuan per piece before the promotion, which was inconsistent with the 49.00 yuan per piece indicated by the promotional price tag.

It is said that the product contains 92% aloe vera gel, but it is actually only 0.4%! Watsons was fined for false propaganda

Screenshot of Credit China's official website

In mid-April 2022, the Yunfuhuan Middle Road branch of Guangzhou Watsons Personal Products Store Co., Ltd. issued advertisements through Meituan for its medical sodium hyaluronate repair stickers called "medical repair stickers, Class II devices", etc., the Yunfu Municipal Market Supervision Bureau believed that the company published uncensored medical device advertisements, and at the same time, could not provide supporting documents about the clinical trial results of the above-mentioned advertisements, and was suspected of publishing false advertisements, and imposed a fine of 20,000 yuan.

On May 8, 2021, Watson's Zhanjiang Jiangxia Plaza Branch was fined 50,000 yuan by the Zhanjiang Xiashan District Market Supervision Bureau for selling expired products. On November 5, 2021, the one-leaf double-protection sunscreen operated by its Foshan Nanhai Guilan Road branch was sampled and inspected according to the "Cosmetic Safety and Technical Specifications" (2015 edition), and the two items of ethyl methoxycinnamate and ethyl ethyl salicylate did not comply with the requirements of the specifications.

According to the financial report of CK Hutchison Industrial Co., Ltd. for the first half of 2022, as of June 30, Watson's total revenue in the Chinese market was HK$9.685 billion (about 8.334 billion yuan), down 17% from last year, and down 17.6% year-on-year store sales; EBIT was HK$623 million (approximately RMB536 million), down 60% year-on-year, but overall A.S. Watson remained profitable.

Written by: Nandu Bay Finance Agency reporter Feng Jiaju Intern Zhu Wanyi

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