Burger King is likely to face legal trouble in the US for allegedly misleading buyers with advertisements that make its Whopper sandwich and other products appear bigger than they are. A US district Judge, Roy Altman, on Monday said in a decision that “some” reasonable consumers in the proposed class action could be deceived by the company ads, Reuters reported.
This development reportedly followed after around 19 customers from 13 US states accused Burger King of physically overstating the size of its products both on the menu in its in-store and online ads. The customers alleged that the advertisement showed the Whopper appeared 35% bigger than the actual burger and contained more than double the meat, Reuters reported.
Burger King, in its response to the accusations of customers, said reasonable consumers would understand that the point of such images on menu boards is to make items appear as attractive as possible. The company admitted that its photographers “styled sandwiches more beautifully” than workers in the restaurants would do with the actual product.
“The plaintiffs’ claims are false...The flame-grilled beef patties portrayed in our advertising are the same patties portrayed in our advertising are the same patties used in the millions of burgers we serve to guests across the US,” said Burger King in a statement, according to Reuters.
However, the US judge found that allegations against Burger King’s ads “go beyond mere exaggerations or puffery”. The judge highlighted that the size of its items in ads increased substantially post-2017 ads.
Last year, Subway was sued by customers with similar allegations levelled against it. Consumers accused Subway of ‘grossly misled’ them by advertising sandwiches that contain at least three times more meat than it delivers. The case is still ongoing in the US. Prior to lawsuits against McDonald’s, Wendy’s and Taco Bell were filed on similar grounds but later got dismissed.
