Penalty Amount
$750,000
The FTC alleged that Vanilla Chip LLC (d/b/a TruHeight) deceptively advertised height-enhancing supplements for children and teens without competent scientific evidence, and used fake employee-written and incentivized 5-star reviews. The proposed settlement requires TruHeight and its principals to pay $750,000, bars false health claims, and prohibits misleading review practices. A $4 million total judgment is partially suspended due to the respondents' inability to pay the full amount.
TruHeight and its principals are ordered to pay $750,000, partially satisfying a $4 million judgment suspended due to inability to pay. They are permanently enjoined from making false or unsubstantiated height and growth claims, and banned from making any health benefit claims without competent and reliable scientific evidence. They are also prohibited from misrepresenting reviewer identity or experience, and from purchasing reviews conditioned on particular sentiment. The order is a consent decree issued by the FTC.
In-house legal teams should review all vendor agreements with marketing agencies, social media management firms, and review platform providers to prohibit incentivized reviews, fake testimonials, and automated bot-generated content. Customer-facing advertising contracts and terms of service should include warranties that all health-related claims are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence, and that all reviews are genuine and uncompensated. Employee agreements must explicitly ban staff from writing fake reviews of company products, and contracts with third-party review platforms should require full disclosure of any review incentives and prohibit sentiment-conditioned payments.
Entity
Vanilla Chip LLC
Industry
HealthcareOfficial Press Release
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2026/04/ftc-takes-action-against-truheight-deceptive-unsubstantiated-advertising-supposed-height-enhancing
TruHeight Complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/TruHeight-Complaint.pdf
2423093truheightdecisionandorder
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2423093truheightdecisionandorder.pdf
Federal Trade Commission Enforcement Page
https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement
"Vanilla Chip LLC, which does business as TruHeight"
"requires TruHeight and its principals to pay $750,000"
"violated the FTC Act and the agency’s Reviews and Testimonials Rule"
"April 13, 2026"
"Federal Trade Commission"
"Proposed settlement order"
$750K
The FTC finalized a settlement with Vanilla Chip LLC (doing business as TruHeight) and its principals over allegations that they deceptively advertised height-enhancing supplements for children and teenagers without competent and reliable scientific evidence. The FTC also alleged that TruHeight used fake social media bot profiles and relied on reviews written by employees, vendors, or consumers who received free products or discounts for 5-star reviews. Under the final order, TruHeight must pay $750,000 and is barred from making unsupported health claims or misrepresenting reviews.
The FTC referred a complaint against REPS & Company Inc. and company executives, alleging they bypassed ticket-issuer security controls and purchasing limits to acquire millions of tickets for resale. The complaint was filed by the Department of Justice, and the case will be decided by the court; the press release does not report a penalty or other remedy imposed.
The FTC sued Digital Forensics Corporation LLC and affiliated defendants, alleging they misled sextortion victims with promises of investigative and monitoring services that often were not provided, and used fake positive reviews. A federal court granted the FTC’s request to temporarily halt the defendants’ activities; the complaint remains for the court to decide.
The FTC alleged that Greenway Auto Group advertised vehicle prices thousands of dollars below the amounts consumers actually paid and used mailers falsely suggesting recipients had won cash prizes. Greenway agreed to an order requiring transparent pricing and prohibiting deceptive prize mailers and other misrepresentations; the press release does not state a monetary penalty.
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$1.9M
The FTC alleged that Premier Franchising Group LLC and Franchise Fastlane LLC made deceptive and unsubstantiated claims about the Premier Martial Arts franchise opportunity and violated the Franchise Rule. The proposed settlements require the companies to pay a combined $1.85 million to compensate franchisees, prohibit certain misrepresentations, and require Franchise Rule compliance; certain franchisees may also cancel their agreements without penalty.