Last week this issue came up twice in one day, and it came up again this morning, so I decided to write a post about it.

The issue is promotion of a product versus the precision of product description. Promotion being text and images created specifically to make you want to buy the product and precision the act of being exact and accurate.

First, a long-time reader wrote to me and asked what I thought of a product that had been promoted that day via email.

I took a look at the promotion page, and there simply wasn’t enough detail for me to evaluate the product. But it was a great promotion—great enough to make her want to buy it. In this cassette technical details about the product were missing altogether.

Second, I made a mistake in recommending a business on Debra’s List, I was so charmed by the promotion and the content in the headlines that I didn’t look deep enough on the site to find details that were there.

The website I deleted is Bears for Humanity.

On their home page it says, “Our products are made of 100% GOTS Certified Organic Cotton and Hemp.” And they display the GOTS logo.

On their About page they say “From farm to fulfillment, our plush toys are made using only 100% GOTS Certified Organic materials and Global Fair Trade practices, while employing at-risk women from Welfare-to-Work programs right here in the United States.

Now doesn’t that sound like 100% of the bear is GOTS Certified Organic Cotton and GOTS Certified Organic Hemp?

Not so.

Reading further on the site it says, “Our bears’ shells are made from a one-of-a-kind certified organic, sustainably-sourced fabric developed in partnership with EnviroTextiles.” It’s “faux fur.” But it doesn’t say if this is organic cotton or organic hemp or organic something else. I called EnviroTextiles and they told me it was 41% (not organic or certified) hemp, 34% certified organic cotton, 24% synthetic PET (in the backing, not the fur). Don’t know if the PET is recycled. She didn’t say.

And the filling is made from recycled soda bottles.

Not 100% organic, not even 100% natural, and the product itself is not GOTS certified.

I’m not even sure the fabric is GOTS certified because there are no certificates. Only claims.

But they did a great job at making it LOOK like a GOTS-certified organic product.

And then this morning there was another one.

A reader commented in Toxic Free Q&A asking about the materials used to make Telic sandals. As I said in my response to her comment, I called Telic and asked them what their material was made from. The website says only a patented trade name, and that it’s an “elasto-polymer.” The customer service rep said it was “toxic-free” but couldn’t tell me what type of plastic it was. He said he knows it’s toxic free because it was tested. When I asked for a certificate he said it was on the website, but he couldn’t find it.

Again, this is no information. Yet, the rep claimed the material is “toxic free.” Great promotion though about Made in America and molded to support your foot.

There are federal laws about advertising. You need to 1) tell the truth and 2) substantiate your claims.

To fulfill both of these, manufacturers need to reveal their materials and show their certificates or give other substantiations about claims. Take a look at Debra Lynn Dadd Recommended Products for examples of manufacturers who are doing this.

We consumers need to double-check headlines, read the information that is given, and ask for information if it is missing.

And not be swayed by promotion.

I so wanted there to be an organic teddy bear!

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