A Hillsborough County woman is filing a class-action lawsuit against The Hershey Company, claiming false advertising in the seasonal Reese’s candies, according to court records filed on Thursday.
The lawsuit claims that the following Reese’s products were sold “based on false and deceptive advertising.”
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According to court documents, the woman — Cynthia Kelly, 18 — bought some Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins in October, with the packaging showing a “cute-looking carving of a pumpkin’s mouth and eyes.”
“(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,” the lawsuit reads.
In addition, the lawsuit points out other Reese’s candies that lacked the carvings featured on their packaging.
Court records show several other customers noticed the lack of designs on the candies, too.
“Reese’s, what are you doing! Look at the picture on the packet,” one YouTube reviewer was quoted in the lawsuit. “It’s like a pumpkin with faces and a little mouth — then you open up the packet and you are presented with that monstrosity.”
As a result, the class-action lawsuit accuses The Hershey Company of falsely advertising the candies on purpose to draw in more customers, which could be a violation of state law.
“The packaging for the Reese’s Products were not always deceptive and misleading,” the lawsuit states. “In order to boost sales and revenues of the Products, Hershey’s changed the packaging for the Products to include the detailed carvings within the last two to three years.”
According to the lawsuit, the case exceeds $5 million in value, with Kelly believing thousands of people were affected.
Kelly is seeking compensation from The Hershey Company and asks in the lawsuit for the company to notify “all members of the Class” about the “false advertising.”
The lawsuit has been attached to this story and can be read in the media viewer below.
Cynthia Kelly class-action lawsuit by Anthony Talcott on Scribd
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