The FTC Has Confirmed That Sunday Riley Faked Product Reviews

[itscarin]

Theres an article on Jezebel about the FTC findings for the Sunday Riley fake review scandal. It’s amazing to see all the speculation confirmed. 

“According to the FTC, the company’s managers and even company founder Sunday Riley herself posted fake reviews of the skincare line’s products on Sephora’s website using “fake accounts created to hide their identity.” And while the FTC press release doesn’t quite say it so baldly, managers also forced, or “requested,” employees to write fake reviews as well.”

The FTC report includes the following gem:

“This settlement sends the wrong message to the marketplace. Dishonest firms may come to conclude that posting fake reviews is a viable strategy, given the proposed outcome here. Honest firms, who are the biggest victims of this fraud, may be wondering if they are losing out by following the law. Consumers may come to lack confidence that reviews are truthful.”

The crazy part is that Sunday Riley does make some really good products. I’d be lost without the SR CEO moisturizer right now. Good Genes is also a standout product. Reading about the level of dishonesty that took place is unsettling. 

Did anyone else see this article?!

Update 10/24: The original thread on BIC where the SR email was posted (concerning instructions on how to post fake reviews) - https://community.sephora.com/t5/Skincare-Aware/Sunday-Riley-Fake-Reviews/td-p/4245507

[mermadelove]

@itscarin This is totally breaking my heart. I LOVE SR Space Race. It has totally changed my skin for the better and I was seriously planning n getting a restock of the Martian toner either here during the VIB sale or from Ulta now that they carry it. I did not get sucked into it based on the reviews. I tried UFO using my points on an intuitive hit when I was desperately looking for a solution for my problem skin. IT worked so amazingly well, that I decided to try the Space Race kit and I've been hooked ever since and have been writing glowing reviews for all of the products I've tried ( except for the CEO products which just never work for me). Its hard to believe they felt the need to post fake reviews when their products actually work! I am so torn now...... Part of me is like: " To be fair, pretty much every business ( and every person) is flawed-- although some are more flawed than others!" I feel like if I stopped buying makeup and skincare from every problematic company there would be none left! I suppose I could switch over my skincare to exclusively Tatcha as they are my other go to HG brand and they donate a portion of every sale to support girls' education. 

[itscarin]

@mermadelove Funny you say ceo didn't work for you.  The ceo moisturizer has saved my skin.  Although now that it's getting colder out I think it's not working as well as it did for me in the summer.  

I think it sucks but some of their products are too good for me to boycott the whole line.  

[mermadelove]

@itscarin This is why patience is a virtue. If they had JUST LET the PRODUCTS speak for themselves, they would not have had a problem! I know PLENTY of people who LOVE CEO products. They just don't work for me. I Love Good Genes and Luna, too. Every item from a line won't work for everyone because-- different skin types! ( Remind me what I just said about patience the next time I moan about Mothership VII.....)

[AccidentalVIBRG]

This is disappointing but not surprising and I don’t think they are the only ones who do this . Just the ones who got caught and held as the example ... I wouldn’t be surprised if 80% or more of the products sold in Sephora have done this or have a deal to have mostly good reviews .Not saying Sephora is to blame . You can see the same type of reviews on the brands personal sites and other third party distributors . It’s unfortunate; but I do think this has become the norm of business. I don’t think it’s right and I do think something should be done abt it ... but a slap on the wrist won’t deter small or big companies . All that to say I’m not surprised but disappointed.

[Cyncynn]

This is really sad because her products are actually really good. I know this is a normal practice in the industry, but the disappointment for me was their response when this first leaked.

One company I stopped supporting altogether was Drunk Elephant. They delete any negative comments on their IG, I have experienced that myself. I wrote a polite question about their glycolic acid serum giving me a reaction and instead of addressing it they just deleted my comment. 

[itscarin]

@Cyncynn I hate when people can't take criticism.  It sounds like your comment wasn't even criticism, but an actual concern.  There's billions of people on the planet and not everyone is going to have the same reaction to a product, so sharing your experience with a product is totally valid and deserves to be heard.  Their loss -- they're missing an opportunity to show they stand by their products and to learn from your experience.

[Cyncynn]

@itscarin 

right? It was a genuine question.

A simple "We are sorry the product didn't work for you" or "send us a DM so we can help you" would have sufficed and created a positive customer experience.

[kel70]

WOW!!!! I just got one of the ADVENTURE reward packs (or whatever you call them) so I could try the SR serum that was included, BECAUSE there had been so many great reviews about it and I was considering buying it!!! Not now. I refuse to even consider purchasing it now, even if it was absolutely fantastic. What a shady, crappy thing to do! I hope the company flops 100%!! They deserve it for trying to get one over the very people that turn to them to help them look/feel better. 

[Anonymous]

either way Luna is and UFO are the best face oils I use that actually work.

[l8totheparty]

That DDG 7 day challenge promo which turned out to be only 3 means that I won't ever buy a Dr Dennis Gross product because I didn't appreciate getting 3 peel pads when I was promised 7 in the promo.  Looks like I'm not the only one. @byme4u 

[missabee]

This is very disappointing and I feel like I should be going back to a dermatologist for skincare and advice instead of using a cocktail of hyped brands. Over it.

[mmmiu]

Good thing sephora has a great return policy. I guess this shows that we can't always trust reviews and really gotta do the research.

I kept wondering why I constantly got breakouts from using the Luna oil no matter what I eliminated/added.

[HoneyBL]

Strange that Sephora has still not made a statement as they were collecting the payments from customers and the reviews were posted on their website increasing sales.

[mmmiu]

Ever since the news about SR broke, I have lost so much respect for their company. I used to use the Good Genes and Luna Oil too..oh wells..

[trishavt]

Why does the CEO of a company feel the need to go to this length to get positive reviews and dislike negative reviews?  Let the product speak for itself if it's as good as you claim it to be. Or is this driven by sheer greed that she went to this extreme and had her employees engage in nefarious behavior?

They even got an Express VPN account so they could hide their IP address when they wrote reviews. lol.

[itscarin]

@trishavt I don't know about you but I actually do enjoy a couple of SR products.  The first time I tried Good Genes was life altering.  I swear, it's like the first hit of a drug because I've been chasing that first high ever since, and I can't ever get there!  I also really like the CEO moisturizer.  It's saved me when no other moisturizers were cutting it for me.  

That being said, I didn't notice anything special about the Luna oil or the UFO oil.  

I'm believe SR has a good product, knows they have a good product, but still felt compelled to do the fake reviews because everyone else in the industry is doing it, too.  I think there's a degree of 'keeping up with the jones'' where if you're a beauty brand, you have to pay influencers to go on vacation and write fake reviews because if you don't, your products are going to look like they suck in comparison.

Don't get me wrong, I still think what SR did was despicable and unethical, but I don't think they're the only ones doing.  They're just the first idiots to get caught.  

[trishavt]

@itscarin  Lol great analogy about good genes. First time I tried it I had a bad reaction but I left it on too long so lesson learned. I agree w/ you on their products doing well on their own for a lot of ppl which is why I think they got stupid greedy and did the thing they shouldn’t have done.

I understand the competition is intense but it doesn’t excuse what they did. That combined with other brands paying Influensters to hype up items is also a problem. I find myself more and more selective about the brands I support these days since the industry is rife with phoniness. 

[HeartSeen]

It does beg the question, if they faked this, what other dishonest practices are they guilty of?

[itscarin]

@HeartSeen I believe other companies are engaging in the same deceptive practices.  Sunday Riley is just the first to get caught by the FTC.  The grassroots campaigning thing has just gotten out of hand.

I hate to bring up politics, but this is exactly like the Facebook 2016 Election scandal.  It seems like grassroots campaigns are the new modus operandi of everyone and their mom now.  😕  I guess it's just because it's a new approach and eventually we'll all get desensitized to it like the way we ignore billboards or tv commercials.

[Eward909]

AND.... I'm making a #Ordinary order atm