Razer Will Pay More Than $1.1 Million To Refund All Customers Of Its Zephyr COVID Masks For Falsely Advertising Them As “N-95 Grade”

Razer, the company behind a variety of gaming-focused accessories including chairs, keyboards, mice, headphones – even full laptops, desktops, smartphones, and during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Razer sold masks.

Not just your regular masks, these were gamer-masks, which mostly meant they had RGB, but Razer also tacked on that they were “N-95 Grade,” and it’s that last part which seems to have gotten Razer in trouble with the FTC.

A press report from the FTC reveals that Razer will refund everyone who bought a Zephyr Face Mask and pay a fine for falsely advertising the masks as N-95 grade, which together will exceed $1.1 million.

“These businesses falsely claimed, in the midst of a global pandemic, that their face mask was the equivalent of an N95 certified respirator,” said the FTC’s director of the bureau of consumer protection Samuel Levine.

“The FTC will continue to hold accountable businesses that use false and unsubstantiated claims to target consumers who are making decisions about their health and safety.”

According to the FTC’s investigation, Razer originally marketed its Zephyr masks as N-95 grade, but in reality, “Razer never submitted a facemask to NIOSH for approval for any type of certification and NIOSH accordingly never certified any version of the Zephyr mask as an N95 respirator.”

While there are examples of Razer submitting corrections on the subject, to say that the masks are not N-95 grade, its original blunder was all it took for it to come under the ire of the FTC.

Along with having to refund customers and pay a fine, as part of this settlement Razer will be barred from making health claims about its products, unless they’ve done the right thing of getting these products actually certified.

Also it should go without saying at this point that this settlement also bars Razer from selling any more Zephyr masks, which no longer appear on Razer’s official website.

All-in-all, the whole situation seems to be a big pie in the face-mask for Razer.

Source – [FTC]