At the beginning of 2021, the world was going through one of the most complicated moments of the pandemic, caused by the COVID virus. During the month of January of that year, Razer presented to the world Project Hazel (later known as Zephyr), a “N95 surgical respirator”. However, it turned out to be false: the mask did not have that certification and now, they will have to refund over 1.1 million dollars.
The Zephyr mask was met with some skepticism by the community. Although Razer’s promotional material marketed the mask as a “surgical N95 respirator,” the company itself had to clarify upon its release that it was not a medical mask.
Furthermore, although it was promoted as an N95 mask, it never underwent testing by the FDA or the NIOSH (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health).
According to PCGamer, the company started removing all traces of certification from its official website once user complaints came to light. However, Razer defended itself by claiming that they notified customers that the Zephyr was not a medical mask. Shortly after, they stopped selling it and refunded the buyers.
None of this has been enough for the FTC, which has ended up imposing a one million dollar fine on the company, “equal to Razer’s earnings from the masks”. Additionally, they will also have to pay another 100,000 dollars as a civil penalty. The FTC demands that Razer provide full refunds to US consumers. The organization alleges that “Razer only stopped the false advertising after negative press coverage“.
The FTC complaint also points out the posts made by Razer CEO, Min-Liang Tan, on Facebook. There, he claimed that they were in the process of obtaining certification for the mask and that its filters had been “tested and certified for 99% BFE (bacterial filtration efficiency), the same standards as the most demanding medical-grade masks that exist.”
Source: PCGamer
