"Old Southern Brass" Busted. Claimed to be vet owned, support vet charities, and only sell 100% made in America goods. It all a lie

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Florida company sold its products as ‘100% American.’ They were from China, feds say​

Florida company that brags on its Instagram page that it’s “America’s Most Patriotic Brand” was a great American fraud, according to an Federal Trade Commission proposed order that posted last week.

Products “100% American made?” Try made in China. Owned and operated by a U.S. military veteran or veterans? Not that, either. The percentage of sales going to veterans’ charities was less than 1/20th of what the company claimed.

The company is ExotoUSA, which does business as Old Southern Brass. The FTC order puts the company in suburban Orlando while its state of Florida registration puts it in a St. Petersburg commercial space. Both say the person in charge is Austin Oliver, who registered ExotoUSA with the state in January.

“The FTC’s proposed order against the company and Oliver, which they have agreed to, prohibits them from making any false or misleading claims, including any about affiliation with or support of the U.S. military or veterans,” the FTC says. “It also requires that $150,000 must be turned over to the FTC.”

The Miami Herald reached out to Old Southern Brass through its website Wednesday. There has been no reply.

Bullets, bottle openers, booze glasses​

In announcing the order, the FTC included some examples from the Old Southern Brass website. An Oct. 25, 2022, post said “all of our products are 100% American made, and nothing says ‘Merica like making products right here at home for ‘Merica man or woman alike.”

The FTC said, “The complaint charges that, in spite of such claims, many of the company’s products were wholly imported from China or contained significant imported content.”

That post would be changed April 27, as would all the posts in the “News” section of the Old Southern Bass website. Now, the site’s splash page says only that the company is “American owned” and “All orders ship from U.S.A.”

Speaking of ownership, the FTC said Old Southern Brass claimed veterans operated it and sold bullets and casings used by the military and 10% of sales would go to military service charities.

“Despite the company’s claims, the company was not operated by a veteran, and the products it sold as being used by the U.S. military were not actually used by the U.S. military,” the FTC said. “The complaint also charged that the company did not donate 10 percent of sales to veterans’ charities as it claimed. In fact, the company claimed charitable deductions that amounted to less than one-half of 1 percent of sales.”

But one page of the website still says in a headline the company donates “10% of all proceeds to military charities” and beneath that, says something slightly different: “10% of Old Southern Brass’s profits to select military charities.”

Also, the product listing that the FTC included as an example of a lie — an engraved 50 caliber casing bottle opener would be “Handcrafted from an authentic 50 cal casing that was previously used by the U.S. military” — remains on the website with the same claim as of Wednesday, 4:20 p.m., Eastern time.

 

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The FTC determined there were $4.5 Million in violations of the FTC Commission Act, for the false advertising and misleading claims, but the company couldn't afford to pay that, so the FTC fined them $150,000 and informed them they must change all the false claims in their advertising.


A Florida-based company will pay a fine to the Federal Trade Commission after it made false patriotic claims about its products, proceeds and ownership.

The company EXOTOUSA operating as Old Southern Brass claimed on its website that all products were "100% American made", the company was veteran-operated, it donated 10% of its proceeds to charity, and some of its products use former-military supplies, according to a Wednesday release by the FTC.

“This company and its owner’s brazen deception cheated consumers who wanted to support U.S. manufacturing, veteran-operated businesses, and veteran charities,” said Samuel Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “We will continue to hold accountable those who profit from false Made in USA and military association claims.”


The FTC complaint against the company alleges that many products sold on the website were made partially or wholly in China. Further, the owner of the company is not a veteran, it donated less than 0.5% of its sales to charity in 2022, and the products did not use bullets formerly fired by the U.S. military, the complaint states.

These findings lead to two counts of false and misleading advertising, according to the complaint, which "constitute unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce," violating the Federal Trade Commission Act.


The proposed consent order, which will carry the force of law once it becomes final, found Old Southern Brass liable for more than $4.5 million. However, the company is unable to pay that, and instead must pay the FTC fine of $150,000, according to the FTC. The company is also prohibited from making any false claims about its products moving forward.

The company and its owner have agreed to the order, the release states. Old Southern Brass did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.

‘Merica gifts for the 'Merica man in your life': False patriotic claims​

Evidence outlined in the complaint showed Old Southern Brass claimed patriotic associations in marketing and product descriptions.

One blog post titled "A Quick Guide to Patriotic Christmas Gifts for Men and Women," claimed that "all of our products are made right here in the United States of America," at the time of the complaint.

The company also sold a whiskey glass engraved with the U.S. Constitution, saying that each glass was made by hand at a workshop in Florida, the complaint stated.

Rather, the FTC found the products were imported from China on many occasions.

Old Southern Brass also sells various items shaped out of bullets or embedded with bullets.

Social media posts and product descriptions show the company claimed the bullets were once used by the U.S. Military, which the FTC deemed untrue.

Old Southern Brass has since removed the claim from its website.