Hershey class action claims Reese’s peanut butter products don’t look like advertisements

Hershey class action overview: 

• Who: The Hershey Co. faces a class action lawsuit related to the advertising of its Reese’s peanut butter candy products. 
• Why: Reese’s is accused of advertising artistic carvings in the candy, such as its pumpkins, white ghosts, bats and footballs, when the carve-outs don’t exist on the actual candy.
• Where: The Reese’s class action was filed in federal court in Florida.

A consumer hit The Hershey Co. with a class action lawsuit claiming it advertises artistic carvings on its Reese’s peanut butter candy products when those carve-outs don’t actually exist.

Hershey sells several varieties of peanut butter products with images of carve-outs in the chocolate coating, including Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins, White Pumpkins, Reese’s Pieces Pumpkins, Peanut Butter Ghosts, White Ghosts, Peanut Butter Bats, Peanut Butter Footballs and Peanut Butter Shapes Assortment Snowmen Stockings Bells.

The images on advertising and products didn’t always depict the carvings but were changed to do so, which is false and deceptive advertising, the class action lawsuit claims.

Hershey engages in unfair, deceptive practices, Reese’s peanut butter lawsuit claims

The advertising violates the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (FDUTPA), the Reese’s lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit class includes those in Florida who purchased one of the Reese’s peanut butter products during the designated statute of limitations, the Hershey class action says.

“Defendant has violated FDUTPA by engaging in the unfair and deceptive practices described above, which offend public policies and are immoral, unethical, unscrupulous and substantially injurious to consumers,” the Reese’s peanut butter lawsuit says. “Specifically, defendant marketed and advertised the Products in a deceptive, false and misleading manner by using photographs of the Products that are materially inaccurate.”

In December, The Hershey Co. disclosed it suffered a data breach that may have exposed the personal information of more than 2,000 individuals with company emails as the result of a phishing attack against the Pennsylvania-based chocolate maker. 

Have you purchased any Reese’s peanut butter candies expecting carve-outs? Let us know in the comments.

The plaintiff is represented by Anthony J. Russo of The Russo Firm.

The Reese’s peanut butter class action lawsuit is Kelly v. The Hershey Co., Case No. 8:23-cv-02977, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

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