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Facepalm: Remember when Razer released its Zephyr mask in 2021, at the height of the pandemic? The cyberpunky, RGB-covered respirator was N95 rated and offered another way to lessen the risk of Covid infection beyond traditional face masks, according to the company. The only problem was that Zephyr wasn’t N95 certified, something that’s going to cost the firm more than $1 million in refunds.
Project Hazel began life as a CES concept in 2021. Razer said at the time that it was working with a team of medical experts and scientists to ensure the mask met Covid-19 protection standards.
Confirmation that the transparent mask would become a real product arrived a few months later. It launched in October 2021 with $100 price tag and the new Zephyr name.
Razer said the “N95-grade” mask had 99% BFE (bacteria filtration efficiency) and could filter 99% of air particles that are 0.3 microns in size. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that N95 masks are supposed to filter out at least 95% of airborne particles.
But Razer’s claims that Zephyr was an N95 respirator were under suspicion from the start. Tech YouTuber Naomi Wu performed a teardown of the mask and discovered it lacked National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) certification, which requires an entire product to block at least 95% of airborne particles, not just the filters.
Razer’s response was to scrub all mention of “N95-grade” from the Zephyr’s marketing materials and start referring to the replaceable filters as “air purification filters.”
Razer faced accusations of deceptive marketing over the controversy. The company put out a statement confirming that the Zephyr and Zephyr Pro – a $150 version with a voice amplification feature that never got released – were not medical devices, respirators, surgical masks, or personal protective equipment (PPE) and not meant to be used in medical or clinical settings.
Now, the FTC has announced that Razer will pay more than $1 million to provide full refunds to Zephyr buyers nationwide, as well as a $100,000 civil penalty, under a proposed settlement.
Razer, Inc. to pay more than $1.1 Million for misrepresenting the performance and efficacy of supposed “N95-grade” Zephyr face masks: https://t.co/Chyr6tfwPd
– FTC (@FTC) April 29, 2024
The agency writes that while Razer advertised the Zephyr masks as N95-grade, it never even submitted them for testing to the FDA or NIOSH, and the masks were never certified. The complaint alleges that Razer only stopped the false advertising following negative press coverage and consumer outrage at the deceptive claims. Razer is also banned from making “COVID-related health misrepresentations” and other “unsubstantiated health claims” in the future.