Hershey is sued over lack of artistic detail on Reese's candies
By: Jonathan Stempel - Reuters Staff
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Hershey is sued over lack of artistic detail on Reese's candies
HERSHEY'S and REESE'S debut the new HERSHEY'S MILK CHOCOLATE BAR WITH REESE'S PEICES CANDY at a launch event, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018, in New York. (Jason DeCrow/AP Images for The Hershey Company)
NEW YORK -
Hershey has been sued by a Florida woman who said its holiday-themed Reese's peanut butter candies lack the artistic details shown on the packaging that make them worth buying.
In a proposed federal class action filed on Thursday and seeking at least US$5 million, Cynthia Kelly accused Hershey of deceiving reasonable consumers by falsely promising that its candies would contain "explicit carved out artistic designs."
She said she would not have paid US$4.49 in October at an Aldi for a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins, had she known that the candies not only lacked the "cute looking" carved eyes and mouth shown on the packaging, but any carvings at all.
The complaint said Hershey's labels "are materially misleading and numerous consumers have been tricked and misled by the pictures on the products' packaging."
It cited several videos on Google's YouTube, and included illustrations such as a Reese's Peanut Butter footBall shaped like a football, but missing the laces shown on the packaging.
Hershey did not immediately respond on Friday to requests for comment. Kelly's lawyer did not immediately respond to a similar request.
The plaintiff filed her lawsuit in the federal court in Tampa, Florida.
She is seeking damages for Florida purchasers of Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins, White Pumpkins, Pieces Pumpkins, Peanut Butter Ghost, White Ghost, Peanut Butter Bats, Peanut Butter footBalls and Peanut Butter Shapes Assortment Snowmen Stockings Bells for violations of that state's consumer protection laws.
Kelly's lawyer has also filed lawsuits accusing Burger King and Taco Bell of selling food that when served looks less enticing than advertised.
The case is Kelly v Hershey Co, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, No. 23-02977.
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If this case had been brought in Canada they would have had to close the court down for at least an hour for everyone, including the Judge, to be able to calm down their hysterical laughter. The judge would not only have thrown the plaintiff and her lawyers out of court but would have required that the plaintiff and her lawyers be required to pay all the court costs and solicitor's fees of the defendant and most likely would have fined her lawyers for wasting the court's time with such a trivial matter.
What is she claiming damages for? How was she injured? Disappointment? Has she got a psychiatrist's evidence that her disappointment was so grandiose that it has affected and will affect her life detrimentally?
What a mistake I made in my life. I should have practised law in America rather than in Canada. I could have been a millionaire by the time I was 40.
Cases for "puffery", i.e. images of hamburgers and such items in advertising that are shown slightly exaggerated have been tried for years unsuccessfully, but a major new one was started against Burger King last March which has not yet come to trial and I'm curious about whether that one will make a difference.
This woman needs to get a job rather than trying to win a litigation lottery.
Anyone can file a lawsuit. You just have to pay the filing fee. But, that doesn't mean you will win. This case looks like a total loser to me. I would expect it to get thrown out by the Court at the earliest possible opportunity. The lawyer who took on the case must be pretty desperate.
For his sake, I hope he was paid up front. However, if it was actually his idea, he's lucky he found himself a sucker.