Hershey sued, accused of 'deception' in Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins
Reeses packaging are seen in a shop in United Arab Emirates on November 24, 2023. (Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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, Dec. 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.
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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."
Cynthia Kelly, the plaintiff, claims she would not have purchased the candy had she known there was not actually a face carved into the item. (United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida / Fox News)
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.
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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.
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The lawsuit further accuses Hershey of changing its 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.
The football-shaped Reese's variety was also cited in the suit as having deceptive advertising. (United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida / Fox News)
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.
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.
Kelly is seeking at least $5,000,000.
Hershey, when reached for comment, said via a representative to Fox News Digital that the company does not comment on pending litigation.
Kelly's attorney did not respond to FOX Business' request for comment on the case.