Step2’s Made in USA Claims

UPDATE 5/2/23: Step2 has removed the U.S.-origin claim from the kitchen playset product page on its website (see before and after). Our original ad alert follows.

Is Step2 cooking up something deceptive with its “Made in USA” marketing of its Best Chef’s Kitchen playset?

The toymaker claims on its website that the kitchen playset is “Made in USA of US and imported parts,” with “Made in USA” given increased visibility in bold. But a TINA.org reader who purchased the Step2 product from Amazon, which has a Step2 Store and at the time also stated the product was of U.S. origin, found that the kitchen playset he ordered in December was packaged in a box labeled “Made in Vietnam.”

Inside, parts that the reader identified as the stove console, cooking pans and utensils were either marked “China” or “Made in Vietnam.” The reader said:

I could not find any component, let alone a majority, labeled as made in the USA.

According to the FTC’s Made in USA standard, marketers should avoid making qualified claims, such as “Made in USA of US and imported parts,” “unless the product has a significant amount of U.S. content or U.S. processing.”

After the reader complained to Step2, he said he was offered “a replacement unit which a representative said he would personally pull from Step2’s US manufacturing facility,” an offer he declined. He said he was also “assured by a Step2 representative a thorough investigation would be conducted,” but has since received no updates.

Interestingly, following his complaint to Step2, the Amazon listing was edited to remove “Made in the USA of US and imported parts” from the kitchen playset product description (see before and after, provided by the reader with markups by TINA.org).

The kitchen playset product page on the Step2 website, however, remains the same.

TINA.org reached out to Step2, which previously suspended a made in the USA campaign in response to a 2017 TINA.org investigation, for comment. Check back for updates.

Read more about TINA.org’s efforts to the rid the marketplace of deceptive made in the USA claims here.