Gold Coast company HiSmile facing multiple lawsuits in the United States from customers
A Gold Coast dental giant faces multimillion-dollar lawsuits from US customers claiming to be misled by ‘junk science’ and ‘fraudulent social media marketing’. Read HiSmile’s response
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Gold Coast teeth whitening juggernaut HiSmile has vowed to defend multiple multimillion-dollar lawsuits in the United States, where customers claimed they had been misled by “junk science” and “an aggressive, pervasive, and fraudulent social media marketing scheme”.
Documents filed with the United States District Court Central District of California claim HiSmile used “fake prices and fake discounts”; that its advertisements were “unfair, deceptive, and unlawful”; and that the advertisements “harm consumers”.
HiSmile’s general counsel and head of operations Steve Mahoney said the Company “maintain these are frivolous proceedings which we will vigorously defend”.
One class action claim was brought by HiSmile customer Faith Ponce, on behalf of herself individually as well as all other customers who bought HiSmile products advertised at a discount in the entire United States.
The claim said there were “tens or hundreds of thousands of class members” for the action.
The claim accuses HiSmile of falsifying “regular” prices in order to advertise its products at a “discount”.
In another claim lodged with the same court in June, HiSmile is accused of flooding social media with “falsified before-and-after advertisements, misleading celebrity endorsements, and deceptive influencer marketing, thereby distorting perceptions and fuelling unrealistic expectations of its products”.
That case, involving plaintiffs Aaron Jiminez, Robert Parham, Brittany Hodges and Ralph Milan, has been dismissed.
“HiSmile furthers this fraud by posting self-sponsored ‘customer reviews’ of its products and having its own employees pretend to be satisfied customers on various social media and shopping platforms,” the claim said.
“HiSmile even goes as far as to claim certain products are “clinically proven” when they have not even been clinically tested.”
The claim submitted examples from HiSmile’s social media accounts showing dramatic before and after examples of their products, which, according to the claim, are “unattainable”.
US court lists indicate the company is defendant in two more similar cases, including another in California and one in New York.
Ms Ponce’s case has been brought via Santa Monica-based class action litigators Dovel & Luner, which boasts successful million-dollar suits against global companies including Apple, Samsung, Google and Disney.
According to the firm’s website, it doesn’t take on litigation cases that have under $USD25 million at stake.
Burleigh Heads based HiSmile has made rich listers of its young founders Alex Tomic and Nik Mirkovic, who enlisted high-profile celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Connor McGregor to promote their dental products online.
The business partners - whose combined wealth was recently estimated at $600 million - said they were on track to reach $1bn revenue last financial year.
Since its beginnings with a $20,000 investment nearly 10 years ago, HiSmile’s sights have shifted from providing affordable whitening products to becoming one of the world’s biggest oral care companies.
Its product range has ballooned to include flavoured toothpaste, tooth tattoos, teeth whitening strips and pens as well as professional products for dentists.
Its products are available online and at more than 20,000 retail sites, from Coles in Australia to Boots in Britain and Walmart in the US.
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Originally published as Gold Coast company HiSmile facing multiple lawsuits in the United States from customers
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