TAMPA, Fla. — A Tampa Bay-area woman is suing The Hershey Company for $5 billion in a class-action complaint that alleges the company "falsely" represented some of its Reese's Peanut Butter products.
The complaint was filed Thursday in Florida's Middle District Court. According to court documents, the woman filed the complaint "on behalf of herself and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese's Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising." The suit alleges Hershey's violated Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The suit concerns specific Reese's Peanut Butter holiday-themed treats, including the following:
- Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins
- Reese's White Pumpkins
- Reese's Pieces Pumpkins
- Reese's Peanut Butter Ghost
- Reese's White Ghost
- Reese's Peanut Butter Bats
- Reese's Peanut Butter Footballs
- Reese's Peanut Butter Shapes Assortment Snowmen, Stockings, Bells
The issue centered around the complaint has nothing to do with taste but rather with looks: The Florida woman says the aforementioned Reese's products were "falsely" represented as having "explicit carved out artistic designs" when the candy itself doesn't have any design.
For example, Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins — in pictures provided in the lawsuit, the packaging clearly shows a jack-o'-lantern face carved on the candy. However, the actual candy inside doesn't have the jack-o'-lantern and is only vaguely in the shape of a pumpkin.
Similarly, Reese's White Ghost packaging shows carved-out eyes and a mouth on the candy but the confection inside doesn't. The complaint also shows the same case for Reese's bats, footballs and other holiday-themed chocolate peanut butter candy.
Due to the absence of decorative carvings on the physical candy, the woman alleges many people have been "tricked" and "misled" by Hershey's labels.
"Hershey's labels for the Products are materially misleading and numerous consumers have been tricked and misled by the pictures on the Products' packaging," the complaint reads in part.
The complaint then goes on to list several YouTube videos as evidence of other people complaining about being duped by Reese's packaging.
One YouTube reviewer was reportedly "flabbergasted" and said "Reese's what are you doing! Look at the picture on the packet. It's like a pumpkin with faces and a little mouth — then you open up the packet and you are presented with that monstrosity."
The lawsuit goes on to allege Reese's Peanut Butter product packaging hasn't always been "deceptive and misleading," showing undated photos of Reese's packaging without the carved-out face designs.
The complaint states the Hillsborough County woman was shopping in October at an Aldi's when she saw the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins on display and "believed that the product contained a cute looking carving of a pumpkin's mouth and eyes as pictured on the product packaging." She then reportedly bought a bag for about $4.49.
When she got home to unwrap her Reese's treat, she wasn't greeted with that happy pumpkin face. The lawsuit says the woman would not have bought the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins had she known it didn't have the detailed carving on the candy.
Going further, the lawsuit alleges Hershey's took part in and "furthered a common scheme" to convince consumers to buy the Reese's holiday-themed candy "by means of untrue, misleading, deceptive, and/or fraudulent" representations.
If a judge grants class-action status to this lawsuit, it would apply to "all consumers within the State of Florida" who bought the aforementioned Reese's products. The Hershey Company has 21 days to respond to the suit, according to court documents.
Read the full lawsuit below or by clicking here: