Williams Sonoma misled (again) with ‘Made in the USA’ cookware, furniture claims, FTC says
When Williams Sonoma tried to lure consumers by waving the “Made in the USA” flag, a federal agency waved the red flag — twice.
The second time cost Williams Sonoma a $1 million Federal Trade Commission fine and a promise to “stop making false, misleading or unsubstantiated claims,” the agency said.
That’s part of a settlement the kitchen and home products company reached with the FTC in March after the agency filed a complaint regarding “Made in America” and “Made in the USA” claims in advertisements for Williams Sonoma’s Goldtouch Bakeware, Rejuvenation brand furniture, Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn for Kids products.
Now to see whether Williams Sonoma’s promise is worth undercooked tuna casserole.
Back in 2018, customer complaints alerted the FTC that Pottery Barn Teen organic mattress pads advertised as “crafted in America from local and imported materials” were actually made in China. Williams Sonoma claimed this was a unique goof from someone transposing product numbers and it had procedures in place to prevent any actual deception regarding country of origin.
The FTC accepted this and closed the investigation on June 13, 2018.
Since then, as the FTC complaint shows, Williams Sonoma catalog, online, promotional emails and other materials “represented that all Goldtouch Bakeware, Rejuvenation-branded products, and Pottery Barn Teen and Pottery Barn Kids-branded upholstered furniture products, including raw materials and subcomponents, were all or virtually all made in the United States.”
Actually, “numerous” products from those brands are “wholly imported, or contain significant imported materials or components.”
Officially, Williams Sonoma neither confirms nor denies the FTC complaint. But, it’s paying the money and agrees before using “Made in the USA” for a product, the product must meet one of three requirements:
▪ The United States is the place of final assembly or processing, all significant processing or “all or virtually all” of the materials in the product are “made and sourced” in the United States.
▪ “A clear and conspicuous qualification appears immediately adjacent to the representation that accurately conveys the extent to which the product contains foreign parts, ingredients or components, and/or processing.”
▪ The product is “last substantially transformed” in the United States; principally put together in the United States with “substantial” U.S. assembly operations.
