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Cheddar
Whopper has been around since 1957, and now nearly 70 years later, Burger King has no doubt been forced to defend the most popular sandwich in federal courts.
On May 5, US District Judge Roy K. Altman in Florida rejected Burger King’s motion to dismiss a 2022 lawsuit alleging that the fast food chain misinterpreted its customers by mistake by mispromoting Whopper and other menu items in commercials and various in-store and online promotional materials.
19 people suing Burger King claim that the fast food chain “sees the burger as a “big burger” compared to its competitors, “as a big burger” that includes “oversized meat pate that overflows over bread,” and “an oversized meat pate” that appears to be about 35% larger in size and contain more than twice as much meat as the actual burger.
Customers from 13 separate states have been listening to Burger King’s post-2017 ads, including Burger King, which features “an increase in burger size.” Despite the fast food chain claims in advertising, the customer claims that “the amount of ingredients (ingredients) contained by the actual (product) received by the customer did not increase,” the document continued.
Apart from collecting money from Burger King’s false ads, customers are “ordering Burger King to stop selling exaggerated menu items or correct their deceptive behavior,” the lawsuit says.
Burger King says the beef patties used in the ads are the same as those offered to customers
Burger King filed a motion for rejection in October 2023. This includes customers not reading product descriptions for menu items, including Whopper, called “1/4 pound of flame grilled beef.” The company also said the photographer uses the same beef patties that the restaurant serves customers, and simply says it “makes the style sandwiches more beautiful” than the workers.
“However, reasonable consumers know that the entire menu board photo is to stimulate the item as much as possible. Pulling the ingredients forward with a sandwich and then making all the ingredients visible is not a consumer scam in Florida or anywhere.”
In a statement to USA Today, Burger King called the customer’s claim “False,” adding that “the flame beef pate depicted in the ad is the same pate that is used in millions of burgers serving U.S. guests.”
Why did the judge refuse Burger King’s motion to reject?
Altman declined Burger King’s allegations after finding that the allegations against the fast food giant “exceeds more than mere exaggeration and bulging.” The judge is said to have exaggerated the size of the menu item to “a much larger degree” including post-2017 ads that are larger than previous ads.
The case is similar to the case involving McDonald and Wendies, which was rejected in September 2023 by a federal judge in Brooklyn, New York. Another similar lawsuit against the subway alleges that the amount of meat in the sandwich is “grossly misleading.”
Jonathan Limehouse covers USA Today’s broken and trending news. Contact him at jlimehouse@gannett.com.
