Clicky

  • Login
  • Register
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
Wednesday, August 21, 2024
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
Submit
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food
No Result
View All Result
World Tribune
No Result
View All Result

Burger King Whopper ads are deceptive, lawsuit claims

August 31, 2023
in Business
Reading Time: 3 mins read
A A
Burger King Whopper ads are deceptive, lawsuit claims
0
SHARES
ShareShareShareShareShare

Burger King Whopper ads are deceptive, lawsuit claims

Food ads have long made their subjects look bigger, juicier and crispier than they are in real life. But some consumers say those mouthwatering ads can cross the line into deception, and that’s leading to a growing number of lawsuits.

READ ALSO

Too anxious to fall asleep?

France to donate 100,000 mpox vaccines as nation prepares for outbreak at home

Burger King is the latest company in the crosshairs. In August, a federal judge in Florida refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit that claims Burger King’s ads overstate the amount of meat in its Whopper burger and other sandwiches.

But Burger King is far from the only one. Perkins Coie, a law firm that tracks class action suits, said 214 were filed against food and beverage companies in 2022 and 101 were filed in the first six months of this year. That’s a huge increase from 2010, when just 45 were filed.

Pooja Nair, who represents food and beverage companies as a partner with the Beverly Hills, California-based law firm Ervin Cohen and Jessup, said waves of class action lawsuits started hitting federal courts a few years ago.

Some of the first were false advertising claims against chip makers for not completely filling the bags; most of those were dismissed, she said. Since 2019, hundreds of lawsuits have been filed asserting that consumers are being misled by “vanilla-flavored” products that don’t contain pure vanilla or vanilla beans.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys largely file the cases in the same courts in New York, California and Illinois, she said, where federal courts are less likely to dismiss them outright.

While the case against Burger King was filed in Miami, where its parent company has its U.S. headquarters, one of the attorneys who filed it has similar cases pending in New York against Wendy’s, McDonald’s and Taco Bell. That attorney, James Kelly, didn’t respond to a message seeking comment.

Companies often settle cases before a lawsuit is filed instead of spending the time and money fighting it in court, Nair said. Earlier this summer, A&W and Keurig Dr Pepper agreed to pay $15 million to settle claims they had deceived customers with the label, “Made with aged vanilla” on cans of soda which actually used synthetic flavoring.

Others say growing consumer awareness is behind the trend. Social media can instantly make a photo of a soggy sandwich go viral, informing other potential plaintiffs, said Jordan Hudgens, the chief technology officer for Dashtrack, an Arizona-based company that develops restaurant websites.

Rising awareness of health and nutrition is also causing people to question product claims, he said.

Ben Michael, an attorney with Michael and Associates in Austin, Texas, said inflation also might be making restaurants a target right now, since some may have cut back on portion sizes to cut costs.

“Unfortunately, many businesses make these changes without consulting their marketing department or updating their menus to represent new portion sizes and ingredients,” he said. “This leaves them open to the kinds of lawsuits we’ve been seeing more of.”

In the Burger King case, plaintiffs in multiple states sued in March 2022, claiming that advertisements and photos on store menu boards show burgers that are about 35% larger __ with double the meat __ than the burgers they purchased. The plaintiffs said they wouldn’t have bought the sandwiches if they had known the actual size.

A Burger King spokesperson said the plaintiffs’ claims are false, and that the beef patties in its ads are the same ones it serves across the U.S.

In late August, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman dismissed some of the plaintiffs’ claims. He ruled that the plaintiffs can’t argue that television or online ads constituted a “binding offer” from Burger King, because they don’t list a price or product information. But he said the plaintiffs could argue that the images on the menu boards represented a binding offer. He also didn’t dismiss claims of negligent misrepresentation.

Nair said it’s unclear how the case will be resolved. Generally, she said, cases against fast food giants have been hard to win. Unlike boxes of cereal or sodas, every sandwich is different, and some might look more like the images on menu boards than others. The U.S. Supreme Court hasn’t weighed in on these issues, so they’ve been decided on a court-by-court basis.

In 2020, a federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit against Dunkin’. The plaintiffs said the company deceived them when it said their wraps contained Angus steak; they actually contained ground meat.

Ultimately, the Burger King case and others could cause companies to be more careful with their ads, said Jeff Galak, an associate professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. But that could come at a cost; more realistic photos might lead to lower sales.

“There’s a legal line. When is it puffery and when is it deceit?” Galak said. “Companies are always trying to ride right up against that line.”

Credit: Source link

ShareTweetSendSharePin
Previous Post

‘G.I. Joe: Wrath of Cobra’ continues the retro beat-‘em-up renaissance

Next Post

Remote work, hybrid to grow despite RTO push, say execs

Related Posts

Too anxious to fall asleep?
Business

Too anxious to fall asleep?

August 21, 2024
France to donate 100,000 mpox vaccines as nation prepares for outbreak at home
Business

France to donate 100,000 mpox vaccines as nation prepares for outbreak at home

August 21, 2024
The EU wants no corner of the digital sphere left untouched, warning X and AI could be next
Business

The EU wants no corner of the digital sphere left untouched, warning X and AI could be next

August 21, 2024
Federal judge derails FTC’s sweeping ban on non-compete agreements
Business

Federal judge derails FTC’s sweeping ban on non-compete agreements

August 21, 2024
How to watch, stream the Democratic National Convention Night Two live online free without cable, on NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC
Business

How to watch, stream the Democratic National Convention Night Two live online free without cable, on NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, CNN, MSNBC

August 21, 2024
We’re Gen Z college dropouts who raised .4M for our blockchain startup. Here’s how we did it
Business

We’re Gen Z college dropouts who raised $41.4M for our blockchain startup. Here’s how we did it

August 20, 2024
Next Post
Remote work, hybrid to grow despite RTO push, say execs

Remote work, hybrid to grow despite RTO push, say execs

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What's New Here!

Netflix’s new gaming boss is a former Epic Games exec

Netflix’s new gaming boss is a former Epic Games exec

July 24, 2024
Here are 6 crypto leaders rejecting Trump’s wooing

Here are 6 crypto leaders rejecting Trump’s wooing

August 1, 2024
Scentian Bio Wins Top Prize at IFT FIRST Startup Pitch Competition

Scentian Bio Wins Top Prize at IFT FIRST Startup Pitch Competition

July 26, 2024
Noom partners with Zumba for dance instructors to become Mindset Coaches

Noom partners with Zumba for dance instructors to become Mindset Coaches

August 12, 2024
Rangers still have blue line questions despite defensive returnees

Rangers still have blue line questions despite defensive returnees

August 3, 2024
Perplexity will put ads in its AI search engine and share revenue with publishers

Perplexity will put ads in its AI search engine and share revenue with publishers

July 30, 2024
How to watch Artistic Swimming at the 2024 Olympics for free

How to watch Artistic Swimming at the 2024 Olympics for free

August 5, 2024

About

World Tribune is an online news portal that shares the latest news on world, business, health, tech, sports, and related topics.

Follow us

Recent Posts

  • Too anxious to fall asleep?
  • Michelle Obama: Trump DNC speech
  • France to donate 100,000 mpox vaccines as nation prepares for outbreak at home
  • Ukraine carries out one of largest-ever drone attacks on Moscow

Newslatter

Loading
  • Submit Your Content
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • DMCA

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Business
  • Technology
  • Sports
  • Health
  • Food

© 2024 World Tribune - All Rights Reserved!

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In