In March 2022, four people filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Miami, alleging that Burger King exaggerated the size of its burgers in its advertisements.
As Food & Wine reports, the plaintiffs’ legal filing alleged that Burger King used inaccurate pictures to both advertise and illustrate its Whoppers, inflating the size of its sandwiches by “approximately 35 percent” in photographs. “Although the size of the Whopper increased materially in Burger King’s advertisements, the recipe or the amount of beef or ingredients contained in Burger King’s Whopper has never changed,” the lawsuit stated.
In the months since the filing, the two sides tried and failed to reach an agreement through mediation. Burger King also attempted to have the lawsuit dismissed, but a judge has rejected that request. In a 22-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Roy Altman wrote that the lawsuit may proceed, and Burger King will have to defend itself in court against the plaintiffs’ allegations.
“Who are we to decide whether such a seemingly substantial difference between what was promised and what was sold (or was not) enough to alter the purchasing preferences of reasonable American consumers,” Altman wrote, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
“Far better, it seems to us, to leave that determination to the consumers themselves, who — if the case survives that far — will get to sit in the jury box and tell us what reasonable people think on the subject.” (Burger King attempted to argue that it wasn’t required to sell Whoppers that look “exactly like the picture,” but that wasn’t enough to sway Altman in its favor.)
In a statement to Reuters, a Burger King spokesperson said that the plaintiffs’ claims in the lawsuit were not true. “The flame-grilled beef patties portrayed in our advertising are the same patties used in the millions of Whopper sandwiches we serve to guests nationwide,” the statement continued.
Meanwhile, the plaintiffs’ attorney explained that these four individuals are just trying to make a difference. “These people aren’t looking to get $5 million dollars because they bought a hamburger that didn’t look like what they were advertised,” Anthony Russo told Good Morning America. “The consumers really want to bring about change. They have a lot of choices. They just want to just be told truthfully what their choices are.”
These aren’t Russo’s only clients who, ahem, want to bring about change. He also represents Frank Siragusa, a New York man who has filed a lawsuit against Taco Bell alleging that it “misleadingly, inaccurately, and deceptively” presents its Crunchwraps and Mexican Pizzas in photos and advertisements. Another of Russo’s clients has sued McDonald’s and Wendy’s over the actual sizes of their burgers compared to how they appear in ads. Those cases are still pending.
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