Wearable blanket brand Oodie has paid more than $100,000 in penalties issued by the consumer watchdog over the alleged failure to include the proper fire warnings on six styles of its kids’ beach products.
Founded by Shark Tank judge Davie Fogarty, the Oodie has become a runaway success in Australia, with devotees of the blanket-hoodie combination helping the business, and its sister brands, reach revenue of $182 million in the 2020-21 financial year.
However, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched an investigation into the sale of more than 2,400 Kids Beach Oodies by parent company Davie Clothing Pty Ltd following a customer complaint.
The ACCC found the hooded towels, which have since been voluntarily recalled, did not have a high fire warning fixed to the Kids Beach Oodies or displayed on the retailer’s website.
This kind of notice is required by the Consumer Goods (Children’s Nightwear and Limited Daywear and Paper Patterns for Children’s Nightwear) Safety Standard 2017.
The ACCC found Davie Clothing sold more than 2,400 of the items to Australian consumers via its website between September 29, 2022, to July 14, 2023. The affected styles were avocado, fruit faces, happy flowers, blue tie dye, charcoal and stripe.
As a result, it issued the company with six infringement notices, totalling $101,280 in penalties.
The company has paid the fines and cooperated with the ACCC. It has also entered into a court-enforceable undertaking with the ACCC, which includes the publication of a corrective notice on its website and a commitment to maintaining an Australian Consumer Law (ACL) compliance program.
While paying fines associated with ACCC infringement notices is not an admission that a company has contravened Australia’s consumer laws, the ACCC can issue the notices when it reasonably believes a contravention has taken place.
In the recall notice on the Oodie website, the company says it has now “promptly taken corrective action” to ensure all future production runs of the product include the correct fire danger label.
The company described the issue as a “labelling matter” that affected the first production run of the garments and assured buyers that “the safety of these products is not compromised”.
ACCC deputy chair Catriona Lowe said the case is an “important reminder to suppliers of kids clothing to ensure all their relevant products meet safety standards, particularly regarding the use of fire danger warning labels”.
“Fire hazard warning labels are crucial to alert consumers to the high fire danger of products and to help keep children safe,” she added in a statement.
“Children can suffer serious burns if their clothing catches fire and we urge consumers to remain especially vigilant when kids are more likely to be near artificial heating or open flames.”
Failing to comply with product safety standards regarded high fire risk is “unacceptable”, added Lowe.
“This is particularly concerning where children’s clothing is concerned.”
SmartCompany has contacted Davie Clothing for further comment.
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Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
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