SAN FRANSCISCO, CA – The embattled bookmarking site Pinterest (NYSE: PINS) suffered another blow as the Federal Trade Commission filed a wide-ranging suit in federal court Thursday. The suit alleges several claims of false advertising including that the company knowingly allowed influencers to significantly understate the time required to make crafts, and that the uses of white vinegar and baking soda were exaggerated to the point of clear and present danger to the public.
“We believe this suit is a spurious attack based on the FTC’s misinterpretation of advertising law,” stated Pinterest spokesperson Cheryl Decoupage, “and we intend to fight so that our users can continue to feel the disappointment and questioning of one’s worth that they have grown accustomed to.”
Behavioral psychologists have long been studying the negative effects of Pinterest. Several of these negative impacts have been added to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders including refinishing addiction, mason jar hoarding, and single childless women creating boards for weddings and baby rooms.
“What we are seeing is that Pinterest is providing users with a false sense of reality when it comes to crafting, and this is hurting women of all ages,” said Behavioral Psychologist B. F. Stitcher. “I’m seeing women as young as 16 with broken knitting needles.”
One user, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke about her battle with Pinterest.
“You look at the cute wooden owl and you think ‘that can’t be that hard,’ and then the next thing you know you’re three months behind on you Hobby Lobby credit card payments, and you haven’t slept in a week because the glue won’t stick like it showed in the video. My husband moved out after asking him to router the edges for the fifth time. You really just lose track of what real crafting is like.”
The allegations of misrepresenting the uses of white vinegar and baking soda are targeted around series of incidents in New Mexico and Florida where users were told the compounds could cure cancer and leave their teeth sparkling white. Neither of these uses had been approved by the American Cancer Society or the American Dental Association. Pinterest let these posts and others with similarly unsupported claims flourish on their platform, which led to numerous suicides and ruined carpets.
“We will never censor or silence our users,” said Decoupage in response to the complaints, “our role is to provide users a great experience, not to stop people from sharing unproven uses for common household chemicals.”
