News and Alerts yellow

This undated letter was released in the mid 1990's by Mace Security International in response to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.

Dear Consumer:

Our records indicate that you purchased Mace chemical self-protection spray from our company. This is to advise you that Mace Security International, Inc. ("MSI") and Personal Security, Inc. ("PSI") have entered into a consent agreement with the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") to stop making certain representations about the effectiveness of Mace with 1% CN and other chemical self protection products unless the representations are true and adequately substantiated. The FTC alleges that the advertising for Mace made the following false and unsubstantiated representations:

  1. that one spray of Mace will stop an assailant;that any contact with the upper torso by a spray of Mace will stop an assailant; and
  2. that use of Mace will instantly stop an assailant.

The FTC also alleges that MSI and PSI, while making effectiveness claims, failed to disclose adequately that (a) it may take several seconds for the effects of Mace to begin, and (b) Mace may not be effective on many assailants including those who are armed, enraged, drugged, intoxicated, or otherwise desensitized.Finally, the FTC alleges that MSI and PSI did not possess adequate substantiating evidence for the following representations:

  1. that Mace will keep an assailant incapacitated for up to or about 20 minutes;that the effectiveness of Mace for civilian self-protection has been proven in use by police forces;that four out of five police officers in the United States carry Mace; and
  2. that over 4000 police departments in the United States use Mace for protection against assaults.

The products covered by this consent agreement include Mace and other chemical self-protection products.

We advise that you limit your use of Mace in accordance with these restrictions:
  1. Mace may not be effective against armed assailants;Mace my take several seconds to work; and
  2. Mace may not work on enraged, drugged, or intoxicated assailants.

Sincerely
Jon E. Goodrich
President, Mace Security International, Inc. and
Personal Security, Inc.

Mace is a registered trademark of Mace Security International

 
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