Reese’s peanut butter chocolate candies are displayed for sale inside of the company’s Chocolate World visitor center in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
A Florida woman believes that recently-sold Halloween-themed Reese’s Peanut Butter products were all trick and no treat.
Cynthia Kelly is suing The Hershey Company because its holiday-shaped chocolates did not contain the carved decorative designs pictured on the Reese's packaging. The lawsuit, which NBC South Florida reported is seeking $5 million in damages, states that the packaging included “explicit carved out artistic designs” like a smiling jack-o-lantern face, the eyes and mouth of a ghost or the laces of a football.
The proposed federal class action filed Thursday in Tampa, Florida district court alleges the company deceived Kelly and other customers who were expecting the carved decorations on the Reese's products and using misleading packaging to boost sales.
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The lawsuit said Hershey’s labels “are materially misleading and numerous consumers have been tricked and misled by the pictures on the products’ packaging.”
Kelly, the lawsuit states, would not have purchased the Reese’s chocolate pumpkin if not for the “cute looking” carving of a jack-o-lantern face she noticed while near the checkout registers at a supermarket. The lawsuit cites YouTube videos from other consumers expressing disappointment over the undecorated chocolates, one of which highlights the small text on the packaging that says "decorating suggestion."
According to the lawsuit, the packaging for the same candies changed two to three years ago when the chocolate was accurately displayed without carved designs.
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Todd Scott, a spokesperson for Hershey, told The Washington Post that the company does not comment on pending litigation.
