False advertising claims threaten Burger King & other food brands

Food ads have long made their subjects look bigger, juicier and crispier than they are in real life. But some consumers say those mouth-watering ads can cross the line into deception, and that’s leading to a growing number of lawsuits.

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Burger King is the latest company in the cross hairs. In August, a federal judge in Florida refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit that claims Burger King’s ads overstate the amount of meat in its Whopper burger and other sandwiches.

But Burger King is far from the only one. Perkins Coie, a law firm that tracks class action suits, said 214 were filed against food and beverage companies in 2022 and 101 were filed in the first six months of this year. That’s a huge increase from 2010, when just 45 were filed.