We’ve all been there. Whether its a family Friday night takeout, or simply finding yourself in the grips of a harrowing Sunday morning recollection of the previous night’s events, we’ve all been lured in and comforted by the fluorescent lights and mouther-watering imagery of capitalism’s single greatest feat; fast food.
But, as is so often the case, we are let down by fast food’s promises, and we find ourselves sitting in a sticky, plastic seat and holding a lump of meat sandwiched between sesame seeded flapjacks, quite the opposite of the juicy, colourful and towering displays we’re initially greeted with.
Some good samaritans over in the U.S. have had a gutful, and are suing fast food giant Burger King for misleading ads regarding the size of their burgers and the number of ingredients used.
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel (because what other state would this take place in?), four plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against the burger chain in Miami’s U.S. District Court on Monday.
The group’s legal filing claims Burger King began to “materially overstate the size of its burgers in its advertisements in 2017″, and that the company was using “false and misleading advertising concerning the size and/or the amount of ingredients contained in said menu item.”
The suit features a side-by-side visual comparison of Burger King’s most famous menu item, The Whopper, as it is depicted in advertisements, next to an “actual whopper” which shows a smaller, flimsier, and soggier counterpart.
The lawsuit accused Burger King’s ads of promising a 35 per cent larger menu item, despite the fact that “the recipe or the amount of beef or ingredients contained in Burger King’s Whopper has never changed”.
The lawsuit also took shots at other menu items, including the Big King, with another visual comparison showing a glistening and squeaky clean tower of bun, meat and cheese, next to its far smaller “actual Big King” counterpart.
“Burger King’s actions are especially concerning now that inflation, food and meat prices are very high and many consumers, especially lower income consumers, are struggling financially,” the lawsuit claims.
“Burger King’s promise to consumers of a large portion of food with their purchase is also causing consumers to come to, or order from, Burger King and make purchases that they would not have otherwise made.”
The suit demands Burger King begins “fully compensating all individuals who were deceived”, although it’s not yet known exactly how much money the four plaintiffs are seeking.
Can those people be also sued for willingly choosing burger king https://t.co/HZd2wBf2cy
— Mel Burke Jr (@_MelJoe3) April 4, 2022
Not surprisingly, many people have taken to Twitter to comment on this most egregious of offences, with one user simply tweeting, “if you eat at burger king you deserve to get finessed”.
Another user seemed excited by the prospect of receiving a payout from the fast food giant, tweeting “hell yeah we gonna get this 37 cents each”.
One Twitter user hit the nail on the head, regarding society’s oversized expectations for products and services which sacrifice care for convenience.
“Your food would take 20 mins longer,” they replied to a post. “So not really fast food at that point”.
While Burger King has not yet commented on the proceedings, only time will tell if they decide to challenge the matter in court, or admit their faults, compensate the plaintiffs, and finally squash the beef.
