Ten weeks ago, we highlighted a product whose promoters were playing fast and loose with reviews. This week, marketing for a very similar product appeared on YouTube.
Take a look at these screen grabs:
This advertisement was shown on the Sun Online last week. So we, naturally, looked for reviews:
And this...
Ah! The gold standard that is every consumer's holy grail: a full five stars. But from where?
On a site called 'Toptested'. The difference being the reference to nearly 2,000 Trustpilot reviews, so we looked there too:
Surely some mistake? No. Just a blatantly fraudulent reference to Trustpilot and a fake score. All designed to shift cheap and virtually useless stock in as short a timeframe as possible. We predict that the product and the web page with the 5 product reviews will be gone within days.
Trustpilot, right? No. Trustpilot ratings are out of 5, or 5 stars, not 10. This is called 'passing off' in legal terms, meaning designing something to look so much like something else as to mislead a consumer.
These reviews are equally fraudulent. Almost certainly written by AI, but certainly not written by a bona-fide customer. The express intent is to support all the other fraudulent product marketing
And, just for good measure, go to YouTube and search 'pressure washer'. What do you see? This, by any chance, right at the top:
Who could resist? A pressure washer so powerful it doubles as a chainsaw?
And finally...
On your - and the UK consumer's - behalf, we ordered two of these miracle washers. One from Jetterix at £49 and one identical one from another Amazon-listed supplier at £9.99. Neither produced more pressure than the existing 'gun' on our garden hose. We consulted an engineer who told us straight away that the pressure in such a 'gun' was entirely reliant upon the pressure at the tap it was attached to. Without a motor, it could not possibly boost the pressure at all.
The issue we have
Aside from the obvious: that fraud is being perpetrated upon the UK consumer at scale, we are concerned at three aspects of this corrosive behaviour:
- That these advertisements are being carried by major advertising channels: YouTube, Amazon. Google, Instagram and TikTok, and online legacy media such as national newspapers
- That the regulators - Advertising Standards Authority in the case of patently fraudulent advertising and the Competition & Markets Authority in the case of misuse and passing off of reviews - do not appear to have yet sanctioned either the businesses behind the 'products' or the carriers of such advertising
- That these fraudulent practices, if allowed to continue, will further undermine the public's confidence in reviews as a valuable mechanism for reassurance before purchasing goods and services
Bear in mind that these channels earn every time you view, click or buy (YouTube between 5 and 30 cents per view, Amazon from 5% to 40% of the purchase price, just for two examples).
Action
We will contact both the ASA and the CMA and let you know what they say, along with any action they intend to take.
