The Consumers' Foundation (
Watsons' latest ad campaign and commercials claim that when consumers bought a product they could pay an extra NT$1 to get two.
However, when consumers went to the stores they found that they had to buy two of the same product, then add NT$1 to obtain a small pack of trial products, which was completely different to what appeared in the TV commercial, the foundation said.
PHOTO: CHU PEI-HSIUNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"The misleading advertisements have violated Article 21 of the Fair Trade Law (
A small disclaimer in the TV commercial, which said that consumers should refer to notices in stores for the conditions and restrictions of the promotion running through March 28, could not excuse the improper advertising and is not legally binding on consumers, the commission said.
In response, Watsons said they had not mislead the public, as details of the promotion are clearly stated on its shelves and in its monthly catalog.
Up to 70 percent of more than 500 selected items are buy one get one with an extra NT$1, while the other items are buy two, get one with an extra NT$1, the Central News Agency cited Watsons as saying. The products given away for NT$1 are not necessarily the same products that customers had purchased, the retailer said.
Meanwhile, Fair Trade Commission spokesman Lin Yi-yu (林益裕) said the regulator will investigate.
The investigation could lead to a fine of between NT$50,000 (US$1,513) and NT$25 million, according to the regulations, if Watsons was found guilty, Lin said by telephone yesterday.
Watsons was fined NT$500,000 earlier this month for misleading advertisements selling cosmetics.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last