Watchdog Blasts Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop for Using Advertising to ‘Exploit Women’ for Profit

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow’s lifestyle brand Goop is facing criticism from consumer watchdog Truth in Advertising, which gathered more than 50 instances of the wellness company utilizing what it called “deceptive” information to market its products and filed complaints against GOOP with two California district attorneys.

“Marketing products as having the ability to treat diseases and disorders not only violates established law but is a terribly deceptive marketing ploy that is being used by Goop to exploit women for its own financial gain,” Bonnie Patten, the executive director of TruthInAdvertising.org, wrote in a statement on the non-profit’s website. “Goop needs to stop its misleading profits-over-people marketing immediately.”

Some Goop-advertised products and practices catalogued by Patten’s group are the Carnellian crystal, which “eases period cramps, tempers PMS, regulates menstrual cycles, treats infertility,” an alleged anti-aging “detox seaweed bath soak,” and the promoted idea of “earthing,” or walking barefoot to help heal inflammation, arthritis, insomnia, and depression.

Patten says her outfit sent a letter to Paltrow and her California-based e-commerce company asking that they correct misleading marketing language on advertised products, provide a detailed list of said products, and asked that the changes be made by August 18.

“We responded promptly and in good faith to the initial outreach from representatives of TINA and hoped to engage with them to address their concerns,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “Unfortunately, they provided limited information and made threats under arbitrary deadlines which were not reasonable under the circumstances.”

Apparently GOOP failed to meet Truth in Advertising’s standards in time, prompting the group to file its complaint with the California district attorneys who are part of a state’s Food Drug and Medical Device Task Force.

The spokesperson said the company will “continue to evaluate our products and our content and make those improvements that we believe are reasonable and necessary in the interests of our community of users.”

The Academy Award–winning actress founded GOOP in 2008, and the company has come under fire for false advertising claims several times since.

In March, GOOP was slammed for promoting cookbooks that include incomplete cooking instructions that health experts warned could lead to increased risk of food poisoning. In June, GOOP removed ads for $120 “Body Vibes” stickers the company had falsely claimed were made from “NASA spacesuit material.”

The company has also been criticized for including items in its gift guides that are financially our of reach for most women.

 

Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson