A Florida woman is suing Hershey after she says she was deceived by the chocolate brand's packaging of its holiday-themed items.
In a proposed federal class action lawsuit filed on Thursday, December 28, plaintiff Cynthia Kelly of Hillsborough County, Florida stated she was filing on "behalf of herself and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese’s Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising."
"Hershey’s labels for the Products are materially misleading and numerous consumers have been tricked and misled by the pictures on the Products’ packaging," said the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
REESE’S PEANUT BUTTER CUPS AFICIONADOS BAFFLED BY CORRECT PRONUNCIATION OF FAN-FAVORITE CANDY
These products include "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, and Reese’s Peanut Butter Shapes Assortment Snowmen Stockings Bells," says the suit.
The Hershey Company, said Kelly, is "falsely representing several Reese’s Peanut Butter products as containing explicit carved out artistic designs when there are no such carvings in the actual products."
The lawsuit specifically cites the packaging for Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins. On the packaging, the chocolate item has a carved out face, but the actual item does not have any carvings, facial features or otherwise.
Reese's Peanut Butter Bats and Reese's White Ghost products are similarly noted in the lawsuit for a lack of facial features despite their packaging.
TOBLERONE CHOCOLATE BARS LOSING SWISS MOUNTAIN LOGO: REPORTS
The Reese's Peanut Butter Footballs are depicted with a carving of laces, said the lawsuit, but the actual item "contains no carving for the laces" and "looks like eggs!!"
The lawsuit includes pictures of the packaging of the stated candies as well as pictures of the items in question.
The suit also links to numerous YouTube videos of people saying they were "lied to" by Hershey as the products in question did not have carved out faces or other details in their chocolate coating.
COLORADO BUSINESS PAYS $23.5K SETTLEMENT WITH 6,500 POUNDS IN COINS: REPORTS
The lawsuit further accuses Hershey of changing their product packaging to "boost sales and revenues," noting that previous packaging from two or three years ago did not include facial features on its products.
In late October 2023, Kelly "viewed the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins displayed near the checkout registers and believed that the product contained a cute looking carving of a pumpkin’s mouth and eyes as pictured on the product packaging," said the lawsuit.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Kelly purchased the pumpkins for $4.49, but later discovered that they did not contain any of the carvings depicted on the label.
"(Kelly) would not have purchased the Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins product if she knew that it did not have the detailed carvings of the mouth and/or eyes as pictured on the product label," said the lawsuit.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Kelly is seeking at least $5,000,000.
Neither Hershey nor Kelly's attorney responded to Fox Business' request for comment on the case.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle
