Reese’s Accused of False Advertisement Over Its Holiday Candies

A woman in Florida has launched a class action lawsuit against Hershey’s, claiming that the packaging on Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins constitutes false advertising. Cynthia Kelly’s lawsuit points out that the the packaging for this holiday-themed treat shows a jack-o-lantern face on the chocolate, but the product itself does not have that. She argues that this “cute-looking” face was the reason that she and other people purchased the candy.

Kelly filed her lawsuit in Middle District Court on Dec. 28, 2023, seeking $5 million in damages, according to a report by USA Today. She accuses the parent company Hershey’s of “false or deceptive advertising,” writing: “This is a class action against Hershey for falsely representing several Reese’s Peanut Butter products as containing explicitly carved-out artistic designs when there are no such carvings in the actual products.” The suit says that when Kelly bought the candy, she “believed that the product contained a cute looking carving of a pumpkin’s mouth and eyes as pictured on the product packaging.”

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The lawsuit explains that Kelly purchased the Reese’s Halloween-themed candy in late October at an Aldi’s grocery store. It says: “Plaintiff 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.”

The lawsuit points to other seasonal Reese’s products as well, including ghosts and bats at Halloween, footballs, snowmen and bells. Photos included in the lawsuit shows that the packaging on these did not match the appearance of the candies themselves. For example, the bat was shown with carved-out eyes while the real confection was solid, and the football was shown with stitches carved out but the real candy was smooth. The lawsuit contends that these details were not included on the packaging in previous years, and that the changed packaging implicitly suggests that the candy would be changed as well.

According to a report by Top Class Actions, the lawsuit argues that this advertising violates the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. That means that only people who can prove they purchased the candy in the state of Florida would be eligible to receive damages. However, the lawsuit was filed in a federal court.

So far, Hershey’s has not responded publicly to this lawsuit. You can find more details, including how to join the lawsuit yourself here.