FOOD

Florida woman sues Hershey over Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins packaging not being 'cute'

Sarah Al-Arshani
USA TODAY
Photo included in class action lawsuit against The Hershey Company on behalf of Cynthia Kelly and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese’s Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising.

A Florida woman upset that Reese's holiday-themed chocolates did not feature the same cute designs she claims was shown on its packaging is suing manufacturer Hershey's for false advertisement.

In a lawsuit filed on Dec. 28 in Florida's Middle District Court, Cynthia Kelly sued Hershey's for $5 million, alleging that the company misled buyers with "false and deceptive advertising" on their packaging."This is a class action against Hershey for falsely representing several Reese's Peanut Butter products as containing explicitly carved-out artistic designs when there are no such carvings in the actual products," the lawsuit said.

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Lawsuit claims that products did not resemble packaging

Photo included in class action lawsuit against The Hershey Company on behalf of Cynthia Kelly and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese’s Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising.

According to the lawsuit, Kelly purchased a packet of Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins while shopping at an Aldi's in late October because she "believed that the product contained a cute looking carving of a pumpkin's mouth and eyes as pictured on the product packaging."However, after purchasing the peanut butter chocolate, Kelly was disappointed that the candy did not feature those details.

"Plaintiff would not have purchased the Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins product if she knew that it did not have the detailed carvings of the mouth and/or eyes as pictured on the product label," the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit mentions several other holiday-themed Reese's products, including ghosts, bats, footballs, snowmen, and bell-shaped treats. Several photos included in the case depict the difference between the packaging and the actual product. For example, with Reese's Pumpkin, the packaging featured a jack-o'-lantern design, but the chocolate inside was simply blank. In another example, the lawsuit had photos of Reese's Football and said the chocolate looked like an egg.

Photo included in class action lawsuit against The Hershey Company on behalf of Cynthia Kelly and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese’s Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising.
Photo included in class action lawsuit against The Hershey Company on behalf of Cynthia Kelly and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese’s Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising.
Photo included in class action lawsuit against The Hershey Company on behalf of Cynthia Kelly and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese’s Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising.
Photo included in class action lawsuit against The Hershey Company on behalf of Cynthia Kelly and all other similarly situated individuals who purchased a Reese’s Peanut Butter product based on false and deceptive advertising.

The lawsuit alleged that the packaging wasn't always "deceptive" and that "two to three years" ago -packaging did not have intricate details and matched the product.Hershey's did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment.