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"Its conduct was a betrayal of that promise," she said. "It built its reputation by engaging in the contravening conduct, appealing to socially-conscious consumers who wanted to support charitable causes through their purchasing behaviour. "Oscar Wylee stood to profit from inducing consumers to purchase its products and still does. In her ruling Justice Katzmann said that the retailer benefitted from betraying its philanthropic promise.

"This penalty should serve as a reminder for any company considering making false claims to its customers in its marketing material, whether online, by email, on video, on social media or in store," she said. "Oscar Wylee has taken advantage of the charitable nature and goodwill of consumers and its behaviour risks diminishing consumer confidence to support other businesses that genuinely engage in philanthropic activities," Rickard added. The video showed scenes of poverty in Cambodia, Rose Charities’ eye clinic in Cambodia, and stated ‘Every Oscar Wylee glasses purchase will help restore vision in developing regions’. In 2013 the business also published a promotional video which claimed that it helped in different ways including conducting eye tests and training eye doctors. No further donations or support were provided to Rose Charities after this time, despite Oscar Wylee continuing to claim an affiliation with the charity until late 2018. These claims included statements like, ‘We have partnered with Rose Charities which helps build sustainable eye care programs in Cambodia’ and ‘We’re funding Lim studying to be an eye surgeon so he can keep taking solutions into his own hands’.ĭuring this time, Oscar Wylee’s association with Rose Charities consisted of a single donation of $2,000 and 100 frames in 2014.

The retailer also admitted to making misleading claims about its partnership with Rose Charities between 20.

"At the same time, Oscar Wylee deprived disadvantaged people in need of the benefits it promised in its advertising," she said. "The misleading conduct also portrayed Oscar Wylee as a socially-conscious company that made significant donations of glasses to people in need, which, because this was not true, unfairly differentiated it from other brands in the market. "Oscar Wylee promoted its charitable activities as a core reason why consumers should buy Oscar Wylee glasses, but its claims were false and were made in circumstances where consumers could not easily verify these claims for themselves. This equates to approximately one set of frames for each 100 pairs of glasses sold.ĪCCC deputy chair Delia Rickard said that the retailer used the claims to differentiate itself in the market, while simultaneously depriving those in need of glasses. However, in almost five years Oscar Wylee sold 328,010 pairs of glasses but donated only 3,181 frames to charity, without lenses. We donate a pair of glasses to those in need for every pair purchased’ and ‘Buy a pair, give a pair.’ The Federal Court has ordered eyewear retailer Oscar Wylee to pay $3.5 million in penalties for misleading consumers about its chartiable donations between 20.ĭuring the period the retailer made claims including, 'For every pair purchased, a pair is donated to someone in need,’ ‘One for one.