WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission announced Thursday that Kohl’s and Walmart have agreed to pay a combined $2.5 million and $3 million in civil penalties, as part of settlements to resolve allegations of violations around the use of "bamboo" in marketing campaigns.
According to the press release, the two companies allegedly violated the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (Textile Act) and associated rules and the Federal Trade Commission Act by making deceptive claims about products supposedly made of bamboo.
In complaints filed in the U.S. District Court, the government alleged that since 2015, Kohl’s and Walmart violated these rules by advertising products as made of bamboo when such products were actually made of rayon and did not contain bamboo fibers.
According to the complaints, the companies have sold a swath of items advertised as bamboo-based, ranging from clothing to bedding to bath towels, FOX 5 D.C. reported, but the FTC alleges these products are not.
"As defined by the Textile Act and Rules, textile fiber products marketed and sold by [Walmart] as bamboo, including those described in Paragraphs 10 and 11 above, are rayon, not actual bamboo fiber woven into fabric," the FTC said in a lawsuit filed last month.
The complaints also alleged that Walmart and Kohl’s made deceptive claims that their products supposedly made of bamboo were environmentally friendly and that Kohl’s further claimed such products were produced...
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