The Hershey Company this week asked a federal court in Florida to dismiss a lawsuit filed over the packaging of special editions of the company’s Reese’s peanut butter cups.
The class-action lawsuit filed earlier this year indicated that at least four customers felt duped by the packaging of Reese’s products tied to holidays and sporting events. Those packages displayed intricate designs on peanut butter cups — while the actual products inside were “blanks.”
The May lawsuit argued that the chocolate giant misled customers with “false and deceptive” representations of artistic carvings.
Hershey countered in its filing that no reasonable consumer would expect the level of detail shown on the packaging on the cups themselves, Reuters reports. The company also noted that the package showed other images with products lacking similar designs, as well as included a disclaimer reading, “DECORATING SUGGESTION.”
Attorneys for the company added that the lawsuit reflected a growing trend of “baseless” lawsuits over subjective packaging elements; other packaging-related lawsuits, Reuters noted, tend to focus on ingredient or nutritional claims.
The plaintiffs in the case are reportedly seeking at least $5 million in damages — the total amount of sales in Florida for the Reese’s products in question over the past three years.
