Class action lawsuit against Native Deodorant claims product falsely advertises 72-hour odor protection

Overview of the Native Deodorants class action lawsuit:

• WHO: Two men have filed a lawsuit against Procter & Gamble.
• Why: The plaintiffs claim that the company falsely advertises Native deodorant as providing “72-hour odor protection,” which is not clinically proven.
• Where: The class action lawsuit against Native Deodorant was filed in federal court in New York.

Two men have filed a lawsuit against Procter & Gamble, claiming the company falsely advertises its Native deodorant as providing “72-hour odor protection,” even though this claim has not been clinically proven.

Plaintiffs Ashton Hernandez and Andrew Smyrak filed a class action lawsuit against Procter & Gamble in federal court in New York on June 26, accusing the company of violating state and federal consumer protection laws.

The men claim that because of this allegedly false claim, Native is charging much more than its competitors.

Native’s success was based on a lie, the lawsuit says

According to the lawsuit, Procter & Gamble’s marketing claims that Native whole-body deodorant spray lasts three days are completely untested. Plaintiffs claim the company markets these claims despite allegedly never conducting clinical trials to test the claim.

“Instead, Native simply copied the ’72-hour protection’ claim from a number of different deodorants on the market, added the false claim ‘clinically proven,’ and then charged over 100% more than its competitors based on that false claim,” the lawsuit states.

The deodorant sprays are sold at Target, CVS, Walmart, Walgreens and online at Amazon.com.

Since Procter & Gamble launched the line with allegedly misleading advertising, Native has expanded and is now one of the leading “natural” deodorants on the market, the plaintiffs say. But the company’s success is based on a lie about the products’ clinical testing and results, they add.

72-hour claims “absurd”

The deodorant’s directions state that consumers can apply it in the morning and reapply “as needed throughout the day.” According to the lawsuit, this directly contradicts the advertising claim that the deodorant provides 72-hour odor protection.

“In other words, Native makes the absurd claim that it makes no difference how much spray a consumer uses and it should still provide 72 hours of odor protection,” the complaint states. “However, the consumer may ‘reapply as needed throughout the day,’ which would no doubt be necessary considering the ingredients have no long-term effect on odor.”

The plaintiffs said they both bought Native deodorant spray for $14 after seeing and believing the 72-hour protection promises on the label. They say neither of them would have bought the spray at all, or at least paid a higher price for it, if they had known the promises were allegedly false.

The plaintiffs seek to represent anyone who purchased Native deodorant in Connecticut or New York. They are suing for violations of New York and Connecticut consumer laws. They are seeking class action certification, damages, fees, costs, and a jury trial.

In March, Unilever United States agreed to pay $2 million In order to put an end to the allegations, the company sold antiperspirant deodorants under the Suave brand, which contained a high proportion of the carcinogenic substance benzene.

What do you think about the allegations against Procter & Gamble? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiffs are represented by James R. Denlea and Jeffrey I. Carton of Denlea & Carton LLP and Philip M. Smith of Kravit Smith LLP.

The Class action lawsuit against Native Deodorant Is Ashton Hernandez et al. v. Zenlen Inc. dba Native Cos., Case No. 1:24-cv-04846, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Read more about class action lawsuits and class action settlements: