A federal judge in Florida has dismissed a class-action lawsuit against The Hershey Co. that claimed the company’s themed Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups (think pumpkins, bats and footballs) were misleading in that their decoration was not done to the same detail as the images on the packaging, according to several news reports.
The judge ruled that there was not enough evidence from the plaintiffs to prove that the plaintiffs had suffered economic harm from the lack of “artistic carvings” on the actual candies.
“Put simply,” a Reuters report quoted the judge as saying, “plaintiffs do not allege that the products were unfit for consumption, did not taste as plaintiffs expected, or otherwise were so flawed as to render them worthless.”
However, the plaintiffs in the class-action suit, which was filed in 2024, claimed that nine different Halloween- and Christmas-themed candies did not meet expectations as shown on the packaging. For example, bats and ghosts did not have eyes carved into the chocolate, while a football-shaped cup did not have stitching on it, the plaintiffs said. They sought $5 million in damages.
In its motion for dismissal, Hershey said “no reasonable consumer would be deceived” by the packaging and the “decorating suggestion” disclaimers on most of its products.
The plaintiffs would review next steps following the ruling, their attorney said.
