In July, Proctor & Gamble settled a lawsuit with the state of California because of the packaging of products in their Olay brand. The prosecutors claimed that the packaging that P&G was using had too much empty space and was deceptive to the product inside.
P&G agreed to change the packaging and pay $850,000 in court fees and civil penalties. The packages in question were all part of the Olay skin-care line. The investigation began in 2012 after allegations that the Olay products were violating California’s slack-fill law which limits the size of packaging to keep products from appearing larger than they are.
There have been a number of suits brought against different companies over the last couple of years for the same problem. P&G settled a separate lawsuit, last year, concerning their Old Spice brand packaging. Unilever PLC, Johnson and Johnson, McCormick & Co. and ConAgra Foods Inc. have also faced lawsuits recently that claim the companies used deceptive packaging or slack-fill to deceive consumers.
For consumers, this makes it easier to tell how much product they are buying without looking at the weight and guessing, but for manufacturers it means that prosecutors are looking closely at packaging. Although the laws are different in each state, and P&G’s settlement only included California, the company has stated they will standardize the packaging changes across the United States.
Smaller companies, although not the target of these lawsuits, will need to ensure that their packaging complies with the laws of the states where their products are being sold. Olay skin care sold over $2 billion worth of products in 2014 and P&G can afford an $850,000 fine. Most small companies would go out of business if forced to cover those costs and fees.