AdPower sold a sticker that 'added horsepower' — the evidence didn't hold up

AdPower sold a line of stickers to be stuck on a car's air cleaner, claiming they improved performance by altering intake airflow. The pitch ran specific numbers: horsepower rising from 225.7 to 229.6 PS, torque from 54.0 to 57.5 kgm, black smoke cut by 46.5% — all achievable, the displays promised, by 'just sticking it on'. The claims ran on the company's own website and on Yahoo! Shopping and Amazon from 15 November 2021 to 16 December 2022.

Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency demanded substantiation under the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Representations. AdPower did submit evidence — and the CAA rejected it as not demonstrating the claimed effects. The displays had already been corrected in December 2022, but the surcharge regime counts sales made while the misleading claims were live.

On 28 January 2025 the CAA ordered AdPower to pay a surcharge of ¥3,380,000 — 3% of ¥112,761,667 in sales between November 2021 and March 2023 — payable by 29 August 2025. It followed a measure order against the company on 9 February 2023 for the same displays. AdPower published an apology the day after the surcharge order, saying it accepted the decision 'seriously'.