Estée Lauder fined ¥2.38m for 'younger by 77%' claims on its 小棕瓶 serum

Between October and mid-December 2019, Estée Lauder ran China ads for its sixth-generation 特润修护肌透精华露 (the 小棕瓶 serum) claiming '年轻指数+77%' ('younger index +77%') and '柔润+17% 平滑+20% 透亮+15%' — a bright set of numbers on a flagship anti-ageing product.

The regulator found the numbers could not stand as blanket promises. The efficacy data came from studies on different age samples, under limited conditions, used with sunscreen, and the 'younger index' was a partial measure of skin-metabolism markers being used to stand for 'younger' as a whole. Expert review concluded that a recovery in metabolic markers does not equal a measurable gain in youthfulness, and the qualifications buried in small print were not enough to stop consumers being misled.

On 9 February 2022 the Shanghai Market Supervision Administration fined the company ¥2,381,671 — roughly double the ad spend — ruling the ads breached 广告法 Article 4(1) and Article 28(1)&(2). Asked about the penalty, the brand's own flagship-store customer service noted the sixth-generation serum was no longer on sale, replaced by the seventh.

The fine was not Estée Lauder's first. The same entity had been penalised for false advertising in 2021 (¥400,000), 2018 (¥110,000) and 2017 (¥88,800), so a flagship brand spent half a decade cycling through the same lesson.