Judge orders company to stop ‘false’ ads about spray
A California judge says a company must stop making unfounded claims that its coating-spray product will protect homes from catching fire and burning down during wildfires.
Ads by Sunseeker Enterprise, which does business as Sun FireDefense, “falsely and misleadingly imply that an application of SPF 3000 on the exterior of a residence would prevent ignition and spread of wildfire on treated exterior surfaces,” Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Colleen Sterne wrote in an order granting an injunction against the ad claims.
The company named its product SPF 3000 Clear Spray to promote a claim that it would protect exterior surfaces from heat and burning embers up to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Its advertisements say the spray has been tested by facilities approved by the state, has saved homes during major blazes and is “a game-changer for wildfire protection.”
The spray is sold throughout California, said Ivor Pine, spokesperson for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, a plaintiff in the suit.
Sterne said Sunseeker offered evidence that the spray provides some fire protection, but not against 3,000-degree heat or any other specific temperature. And she said the evidence she has seen so far indicates the product “has no apparent fire prevention or (protection against) fire spreading … on exterior surfaces.”
She also barred the company from continuing to advertise its product as nontoxic and environmentally friendly, saying there was evidence that the spray, “even after it dries, contains toxic chemicals.” In addition, Sunseeker, whose ads say SPF 3000 provides at least five years of protection, must limit such claims to one year, the judge said.
Sunseeker’s chief executive officer, James Moseley, said during court proceedings that the company would be bankrupted by an injunction against its current advertising. Sterne said she was not persuaded, since truthful ads would still be allowed, but added that “to the extent that Sunseeker’s business depends upon false advertising, harm to Sunseeker is insignificant compared with the harm to the public by false advertising.”
The order, dated Nov. 30, was announced Tuesday by the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, which filed the suit in 2019.
“If consumers are led to believe that their homes are protected from wildfires, they may delay evacuation, putting the lives of their families and firefighters at risk,” Los Angeles City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto said in a statement.
“Consumers must be able to make properly informed choices about fire-protection products so as to not put themselves and family members needlessly in danger,” said Santa Barbara County District Attorney John Savrnoch.
Sunseeker and its lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. They could challenge the injunction in a state appeals court, or present further evidence in a trial in Sterne’s court.
As of mid-November, according to the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, 7,477 fires have burned a total of 320,000 acres in California in 2023. That is well below the average of 1.6 million acres for the same period during the previous five years.