For Release
FTC Secures Monetary Judgment in Deceptive Energy Savings Claims Case
Kansas-based defendants misled consumers in ads for coatings
In response to a Federal Trade Commission complaint, the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas ordered Superior Products International II, Inc. and the company’s CEO Joseph E. Pritchett to permanently halt the deceptive energy-efficiency claims they had been making about coating products sold for houses and other buildings.
The court issued a permanent injunction prohibiting Superior Products and Pritchett from misrepresenting the coatings’ insulating or energy-saving capabilities and imposed a monetary judgment of $14,182.95 against them.
The FTC’s complaint against the Kansas-based Superior Products and its officer, J.E. Pritchett, alleged that they market their Super Therm and Sunshield roof and wall coatings using deceptive energy-savings claims. Specifically, the complaint states the defendants falsely claim that the products provide significant energy savings of “between 40% and 70%” for consumers when applied to a home or other building.
In issuing the opinion and order the court found that Superior Products and Pritchett violated the FTC Act by deceptively selling Super Therm and Sunshield by misrepresenting their energy-savings capabilities. The order permanently prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting the energy savings capabilities of their products, and misrepresenting the existence, conclusions and interpretations of any test or study.
It further prohibits them from failing to comply with the FTC’s R-Value Rule, which covers the labeling and advertising of home insulation.
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