UnMask has claimed that their masks are designed to help prevent the spread of COVID. But their ads, listings, and social media postings are filled with anti-masking signals and talking points.
But photos and product reviews of the masks show that, when viewed up close, pores become visible all across them. Reviewers have described the materials as sort of like a fine mesh, a structure experts say likely offers little protection against the coronavirus.
While they market their masks to general consumers with promises of comfort and quality, the brand seems most invested in serving “free thinking, freedom loving people everywhere,” common code for anti-maskers. Notably, they seem to acknowledge—by citing customers’ accounts of coming under scrutiny in schools and airplanesthat most of their products don’t actually pass muster with stringent regulations, or at least the officials enforcing them.
Product reviews posted on the company’s Facebook page indicate that many users clearly see them as tools for deception. “Perfect for virtue signaling,” reads one. “Masks are just for show. Get one you can breathe through,” reads another. “You can’t tell it’s as porous as it is unless you really examine it—which most mask Nazis aren’t going to do,” reads a third.It’s hard to tell how popular UnMask is, or how many people actively use its masks to evade compliance with masking regulations.
“This is a fundamental betrayal of the trust of others,” Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a researcher who tracks and responds to pandemic misinformation online, told The Daily Beast. “It’s endangering people.” However, Fake Mask’s primary focus is open protest and confrontation. They also sell “The Offensively Fake Mask,” a sheer face covering, along with other far-right-friendly merch. They openly state that their masks don’t do anything to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and market their dissent aggressively, even flying small aircraft with banners bearing their website address and slogans like “Cancel Deez Nuts” over cities in the Midwest.