Wal-Mart Faces Baking Soda Deceptive Marketing Class Action

Wal-Mart was hit with a class action lawsuit by a New Jersey man, alleging that the company engages in deceptive marketing when marketing Arm & Hammer Fresh-N-Natural Baking Soda as a three-pack on its website, when customers only receive one.

Plaintiff Roque Hernandez claims in his Wal-Mart class action lawsuit filed Monday that he and other class members were injured by the “unconscionable business practices and deceptive acts” the retail giant engaged in when advertising the baking soda product.

Specifically Hernandez, says that Wal-Mart advertised the Arm & Hammer Baking Soda as $2.00 for one 3-Pack on Walmart.com.

“Defendants have consistently conveyed the message that the product offered to consumers on the Walmart.com website is a ‘3 Pack,’ commonly interpreted as a bundled package of three of a standard sized product,” the Wal-Mart false advertising class action lawsuit explains, adding that Hernandez believed that the term “3 Pack” next to a 1 lb. box meant he would be receiving “a bundle totaling 3 lbs.”

However, when he “purchased the Arm & Hammer from the Wal-Mart.com website [he] received only a single 1 lb. box.”

In addition, Hernandez alleges in his Wal-Mart class action lawsuit that “when any customer calls Walmart customer service, they are informed that the purchase price of $2.00 only relates to a single 1 lb. package, not a 3 pack, even though the the 3 pack photo of the product is displayed prominently with the purchase price of $2.00 on the website.”

As a result of the false advertisement, the New Jersey man alleges that he and other class members have been “shortchanged” two 1 lb. boxes of Arm & Hammer Baking Soda “for a fair market value of $4.00 for each purchase of the product.”

The Wal-Mart class action lawsuit alleges that the retail giant has violated federal law as set forth by the Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, as well as “consumer protection laws of each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia” for misbranding the baking soda product.

Hernandez is proposing two classes — a nationwide class and a New Jersey class for anyone who purchased the Arm & Hammer Baking Soda product “during the applicable limitations period . . . as the court may deem appropriate.”

The New Jersey man is charging Wal-Mart with violating New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act, breach of express warranty, common law fraud, and unjust enrichment.

He is asking for injunctive relief and restitution and disgorgement of all the money that Wal-Mart made through its alleged deceptive act of advertising the Arm & Hammer baking soda as a three pack on its website. Hernandez wants compensatory damages at the fair market value of two 1 lb. packages of the product at $2.00 a piece.

The Wal-Mart deceptive marketing class action lawsuit is also asking the court to order the retail giant to “cease their wrongful conduct” and be made “to engage in a correct advertising campaign.”

The plaintiff is represented by the Law Office of Robert L. Kraselnik PLLC and Anne Seelig of Lee Litigation Group PLLC.

Counsel information for Wal-Mart is not yet available.

The Wal-Mart False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Hernandez et al. v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. et al., Case No. 2:15-cv-00201, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.