Wendy’s and McDonald’s have emerged victorious from a lawsuit that accused the fast food chains of false advertising.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against the two companies accusing them of selling smaller hamburgers than advertised and alleging the food didn’t look as appetizing in person as pictured on their websites.
Legally speaking this is called puffery But that is actually where the case was sorta interesting. Lots of places say they have the best coffee in town, but obviously that’s immposible to determine since tastes differ. So the visual appeal of a burger versus a commercial was always a junk claim.
But a product not meeting the specfic dimensions could be false false advertising. This would certainly apply for lots of other products if they were 10% larger or smaller (like basically anything related to construction). However, the judge here ruled that because the burgers start out as the advertised weight and the process of cooking changes it, then no one is lying.
McDonald’s corporate does all sorts of scummy things. But the judge here absolutely came to the correct conclusion.
Imo pufffery itself should be illegal or at least reined in.