Burger King to defend Whopper ads in federal court after customers sue for fraud
The Whopper has been around since 1957, and now, nearly seven decades later, Burger King will have to defend arguably its most popular sandwich in federal court.
U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman in Florida, on May 5, denied Burger King's motion to dismiss a 2022 lawsuit alleging the fast food chain misled customers by falsely advertising the Whopper and other menu items in commercials and various in-store and online promotional material.
The 19 people suing Burger King argue that the fast food chain “advertises its burgers as large burgers compared to competitors" by showing them "containing oversized meat patties and ingredients that overflow over the bun to make it appear that the burgers are approximately 35% larger in size, and contain more than double the meat, than the actual burger," according to the lawsuit obtained by Paste BN.
The customers, who hail from 13 separate states, hearken back to Burger King's post-2017 advertisements that include Burger King featuring the "increased size of the burgers," the lawsuit says. Despite the fast food chain's claims in the ads, the customers allege that “the amount of [ingredients] contained in the actual [products] that customers receive did not increase," the document continued.
Aside from recouping monies earned from Burger King's alleged false advertising, the customers are ordering Burger King to "stop selling Overstated Menu Items or to correct the deceptive behavior," the lawsuit says.
Burger King says beef patties used in ads are same as ones served to customers
Burger King filed the motion to dismiss in October 2023, citing the customer's failure to read the product descriptions for its menu items, including the Whopper, which is described as “a ¼ pound of flame-grilled beef.” The company also said its photographers used the same beef patties that their restaurants serve to customers, and that they only "styled sandwiches more beautifully" than workers do, court documents say.
"Reasonable consumers, however, know that the entire point of menu board photos is to make the items look as appetizing as possible. Pulling ingredients forward on a sandwich before photographing it so that all ingredients are visible is not consumer fraud in Florida or anywhere," Burger King's motion reads.
In a statement to Paste BN, Burger King called the customers' claims "false," adding that "the flame-grilled beef patties portrayed in our advertising are the same patties used in the millions of burgers we serve to guests across the U.S."
Why did judge deny Burger King's motion to dismiss?
Altman denied Burger King's motion to dismiss after finding that the allegations against the fast food giant "go beyond mere exaggeration or puffery." The judge added that Burger King allegedly overstated the size of its menu items "to a much greater degree," including in the post-2017 ads that display the Whopper larger than in earlier ads.
This case is similar to one involving McDonald's and Wendy's, which a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York, dismissed in September 2023. Another similar lawsuit against Subway, claiming the fast food chain is "grossly misleading" about the amount of meat in its sandwiches, is pending in a Brooklyn federal court.
Jonathan Limehouse covers breaking and trending news for Paste BN. Reach him at JLimehouse@gannett.com.