Love the way you Lie? Rhianna’s Savage X Fenty accused of deceiving customers.

Rhianna was titled the world’s richest female musician in 2019, with a fortune of over $600 million, while she is arguably one of the most successful musicians her fortune is not only contingent on her musical talents. She has morphed into a fashion and beauty icon with her fast-growing Fenty Makeup line and Savage X Fenty lingerie brand. Last year she partnered with LVMH, the French luxury goods giant, making her the first black woman in charge of a major luxury fashion house.

Rhianna is praised for promoting inclusivity and diversity as her makeup brand debut featured an extended collection of shades and her clothing line features models of many body types.

While Rhianna is basking in the success of her makeup line’s joint venture with the parent company of Louis Vuitton, the same could not be said about her lingerie line, Fenty X Savage partnership with e-commerce company TechStyle Inc.

The sizzling lingerie brand, Savage X has come under fire by Truth in Advertising, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect consumers against false advertising and deceptive marketing. Fenty X is being accused of deceptive marketing for “secretly” enrolling customers in their Extra VIP membership which entails an annual fee. Several customers have reported being enrolled in the program without their knowledge. One customer says she was surprised when her debit card was charged for several months for a service she never used (New York Times, 2020).

Savage X offers customers an Extra VIP membership program, which is a pretty common loyalty program offered by numerous retailers, however, on Savage X website’s product prices reflects both regular price and Extra VIP Members price regardless if you are enrolled in the program.

Here is where the proposed deception occurs:

A customer adds an item in their virtual shopping cart, the price that is listed is defaulted to the Extra VIP price, when its time for check out the cart contains the discounted price as well as the VIP Program subscription, albeit the customer did not add it in their cart. I went online and carried out the steps as if ordering a product and had the same experience.

This is the premise in which Truth Advertising is crying foul on the fashion mogul’s brand claiming costumers are being tricked into purchasing a $49 a month loyalty program.  Savage X is not the only e-commerce brand that has received scrutiny for this form of marketing practice. Savage X partner TechStyle Inc has been accused of deceptive marketing before, namely Fabletics one of its partners, a popular online fitness apparel store.

According to consumer law deceptive advertising, also known as false advertising, refers to a manufacturer’s use of confusing, misleading, or blatantly untrue statements when promoting a product. Do you consider this deceptive? Or should consumers be held accountable, since they are responsible for reviewing their cart before making a purchase?

References

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/rihanna-lingerie-savage-x-fenty-deceptive-marketing

https://www.forbes.com/sites/natalierobehmed/2019/06/04/rihanna-worth-fenty-beauty/#61c8454a13de

New York Times