Search Maine Yellow Pages 
Log In | Register | Help
Check Up Blog Index
March 13, 2008
Feel duped by Airborne?

Did you buy Airborne between May 21, 2001 and Nov. 29, 2007? You could get a refund.

The maker of the herbal supplement earlier this month agreed to settle a class action suit over false advertising for $23.3 million.

Airborne was selling itself as a cold remedy, when its major ingredients weren't that different from a multi-vitamin.

Helping sales was the cutesy packaging and a fabulous backstory: Schoolteacher hangs out with second-graders every day. Keeps getting their gross germs. Invents effervescent tablet that you plunk into a glass of water and drink to fight viruses.

So...she wasn't a scientist. Didn't matter. Airborne sales topped $100 million a year.

The company’s bold health claims – one press release said Airborne could cure most colds within an hour – created skeptics and sparked an ABC News investigation in 2006 .

The ABC report, which led to the lawsuit, found that the clinical study supporting Airborne's claims was conducted by two people, neither of whom were scientists.

In settling the lawsuit, Airborne denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay back aggrieved customers.

Feel aggrieved? Visit the Airborne Settlement Web site.

If you don't have a receipt, you can receive a refund for up to six products. That's $10.50 per box of Seasonal Airborne, $2.75 per box of Gummi Airborne, and $6.99 for all other Airborne products.

To be on the safe side, Airborne now describes itself as a health formula that "boosts your immune system."

airborne_200.jpg
At least it's fizzy and fun!

Posted at 03:30 PM

E-mail this entry to a friend

Comments
Post a comment









Remember personal info?







Please enter the code as seen in the image above:



Blog Index

Josie Huang joined the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram as a general-assignment reporter in June 2001. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Huang has worked at the Springfield (Mass.) Union News/Sunday Republican and freelanced at the Taiwan News.



Updates
Sign up to be notified when there's a new entry
RSS
Subscribe
Most Recent Comments
Were you a feet-first baby? (1)
qbuemjcsanp wrote: 5YFTNd drbkamxtdavm, [url=http://lzxfsioufsdx.com/]lzxfsioufsdx[/url], [li...

Hoax or not: Cell phone-made popcorn (1)
Sam Cousins wrote: It's totally fake. If a cellphone produced enough energy to pop a popcorn k...

Breaking the red wine myth (5)
J. Huang wrote: Hi Jessica, Good question, but I don't think this study really answers ...

Yakkin' on the cell: Bad for baby? (1)
JK wrote: Please note that this "study" consisted of a simply question-and-answer sur...

Freshman 15: Fact or fiction (1)
Doc Severasin wrote: The transaction from High School to College typically contributes to added ...

Lying well – it's all in the face (2)
J. Huang wrote: Now that you bring it up - my face is masking the terror of having to be in...

Crocs: Friend or Foe? (4)
Larry wrote: Funny, I find my Crocs more secure on wet surfaces than most of my footwear...

Snakes on the Brain (1)
natrix natrix wrote: Without seeing more of the study, I have questions about the wording here. ...