Target Faces Lawsuit Over Sunscreen Coral Bleaching Claims

Climate change is the primary cause of coral bleaching. But that doesn't stop over-zealous marketers from making “coral reef-safe” claims on their sunscreen labels. Companies may want to rethink the strategy now that Target has been hit with a lawsuit promoting its “coral reef-safe” sunscreens.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says the world is currently experiencing a global coral bleaching event. This is the fourth global event on record and the second in the past 10 years. NOAA is a member of the International Coral Reef Initiative. CRI is a global partnership for the preservation of the world's coral reefs and associated ecosystems.

Bleaching-level heat stress, as remotely monitored and predicted by NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch (CRW), has been — and continues to be — extensive across the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Ocean basins. CRW's heat-stress monitoring is based on sea surface temperature data, spanning 1985 to the present, from a blend of NOAA and partner satellites.

According to an NPR report, studies show that if climate change continues at the same pace, 99% of the world's coral reefs are likely to die off by the end of the century. To buy reefs some extra time, scientists are breeding both algae and corals to withstand more heat, speeding up the natural process of evolution. But with oceans heating up more rapidly than expected, they're racing against the clock.

Despite all the science, companies are still making “reef-safe” claims… and lawyers are quick to pounce. In a suit filed last week, Target became the latest retailer to be accused of deceptively marketing organic sunscreen products as safe for coral reefs despite containing ingredients known to cause coral bleaching.

The “reef-conscious formula” label on sunscreen from Target’s private label up&up doesn’t tell customers “its active ingredients of avobenzone, homosalate, octisalate and octocrylene are inconsistent with ‘protecting and safeguarding’ coral reefs,” as implied by the label, according to a proposed consumer class action filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

A plaintiff attorney says the label violates the environmental marketing guidance from the Federal Trade Commission.

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