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Nutella Maker May Settle Deceptive Ad Lawsuit For $3 Million
Remember that California mom who sued Nutella maker Ferrero over misleading advertising that made the addictive and gooey chocolate-hazelnut spread seem healthy?
Well, her lawsuit was awarded class action status, and the New York Daily News reports that Ferrero has agreed to settle for $3 million. That works out to be about $4 a jar or less, if you're thinking of making a claim.
Quick recap: as we reported on the Shots blog last year, the trouble began when Athena Hohenberg realized that the Nutella she'd been feeding her 4-year-old daughter was "the next best thing to a candy bar," according to court documents. Hohenberg says she was taken in by ads and product labels that claimed Nutella was "healthy" and "part of a balanced meal." When friends eventually pointed out Nutella's high sugar and fat content, she sued Ferrero for deceptive advertising.
At the time, many commenters were astounded that anyone would consider TV ads a reliable source of nutritional information. Indeed, it only takes a glance at the label to discover that Nutella's main ingredients are sugar and palm oil.
Now, to be fair, many of us don't really look at labels too closely, but with glaring numbers like 21 grams of sugar and 200 calories in each 2-tablespoon serving ? and half of those calories coming from fat ? you'd think that might register with a shopper.
Naturally, Ferrero's ads don't mention the fat or sugar. Instead they talk up the "simple, quality ingredients like hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa." Apparently, that gave Hohenberg's claim enough weight to convince Ferrero to settle. The company now says it will change its nutrition labels and its advertising, in addition to the $3 million payout.
Under the terms of the proposed settlement, anyone who purchased Nutella in the last few years may join the class action. Each claim will pay out up to $20 ? that's $4 per jar, on up to five jars ? or less, depending on the number of claimants.
If you, too, were fooled into thinking that sweet, chocolatey, hazelnut goop was actually good for you, visit nutellaclassactionsettlement.com for more information.
For the legal geeks keeping score, technically, there's two class-action settlements ? one for California and one for the rest of the country. And they were reached in January, although both settlements aren't really final until the district courts give them the OK at "fairness hearings" in July.
Re: Nutella Maker May Settle Deceptive Ad Lawsuit For $3 Million
lol, I am sure someone will be in shortly to school you on the coffee lawsuit!
Oh my gosh no. I'm backing out and going back to MN where I belong.
I was making a joke! Be gentle.
It is a long running discussion on the board...I am not an attorney so I will spare you the details : ).
The fact that this dumb heifer should have known better doesn't mean those commercials weren't deceptive.
"Look, I spread it on whole wheat toast and feel good about giving my children something nutritious!"
Click me, click me!
Here is what I don't understand: aren't most things part of a balanced meal...as long as the other things are healthy to balance it out?
I don't want to start nutella-gate 2.0, lol. I just think there is a difference between saying it is healthy and saying it is part of a balanced meal. Maybe I'm too literal of a person.
It's not part of a balanced meal if the meal is balanced without it. It would be like saying that leather seats were part of a well running car. A car is not made well running by the presence of leather seats.
If Nutella was right, then Snickers and Doritos could also say they were part of a balanced meal if that mean included a grilled chicken breast, broccoli, and brown rice.
As for people laughing, the lawsuit only sounds ridiculous to people who have had Nutella or know what it is. If you had never tasted or seen Nutella in your life, don't you think it could be deceptive? We'd have to check with Charles Murray, but I am pretty sure Nutella is food for people in the bubble, and not actually eaten or used regularly by huge numbers of people in the United States.
As for the coffee lawsuit, I don't have the strength right now. I'll leave that one for sbp.
I have never tasted, nor seen Nutella - and yes, those commercials lead you to believe it's some super healthy breakfast food.
I'll admit the commercials skim over the sugar/fat content but come on! It's a chocolate spread, how could it possibly be a super healthy breakfast food?
It's chocolate. It smells like chocolate, looks like chocolate, tastes like chocolate.
Anyone who can't figure that out for themself is a certified dumbass. And still, it's not some nutella on toast that's going to make someone's kid fat, it's throwing moderation out the window and eating bowl fulls at a time.
The commercials are deceptive, but what the hell isn't food wise at this point? Half the stuff in the store is stamped "low fat" but has more calories, carbs, sugar, etc than it otherwise would.