$5.5 million total FTC settlements with Kohl’s and Walmart challenge “bamboo” and eco claims, shed light on Penalty Offense enforcement

Photo courtesy FTC

By Lesley Fair

Federal Trade Commission blog

For consumers shopping for textiles for the home, products promoted as made from bamboo are a popular draw. 

But the FTC says some items advertised by global retailers Kohl’s and Walmart as “bamboo” were actually made of rayon. 

According to separate FTC settlements, the companies’ misleading representations violated the FTC Act and the Textile Act. In addition, the FTC says Kohl’s and Walmart engaged in “greenwashing” by making deceptive eco-friendly claims for those products. 

The complaint against Kohl’s charges that the company falsely represented that sheets, pillows, bath rugs, and towels advertised as made wholly or in part from bamboo were, in fact, made of rayon. 

What’s more, the company described them with terms like “sustainable,” “highly renewable,” and “environmentally friendly.” 

Kohl’s also advertised some of the products online with a “Cleaner Solutions” seal that linked people to a “Sustainability at Kohl’s” webpage describing initiatives suggesting that the company “care[s] about the planet.”

According to the complaint against Walmart, the company also made false bamboo claims in promoting sheets, towels, blankets, and nursing bras. In addition, Walmart marketed the items with phrases like “eco-friendly and sustainable” and “renewable and environmentally sustainable”

So what’s the real story about bamboo? read more here