This is a McDonald's restaurant in Pittsburgh on Saturday, April 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)
By Dee-Ann Durbin
A federal judge in New York has dismissed a lawsuit that accused McDonald’s and Wendy’s of misleading consumers with ads that show bigger, juicier burgers than their restaurants actually serve.
In an opinion released over the weekend, U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez said the images on the companies’ websites __ which the plaintiff was challenging __ note the weight of the meat and the calories each burger contains.
Gonzalez also said the plaintiff, Justin Chimienti, failed to prove that a reasonable customer would be misled by the ads. Gonzalez said the ads are considered “puffery,” akin to other companies' use of models to make their products more visually appealing.
Wendy's and McDonald's didn't immediately respond to messages left Tuesday seeking comment.
The suit was one of several false advertising lawsuits filed recently against fast food companies by New York attorney James Kelly. A message seeking comment from Kelly was left Tuesday by The Associated Press.
In August, a federal judge in Florida refused to dismiss a class action lawsuit Kelly filed against Burger King claiming that the company's ads overstate the amount of meat in its Whopper burger and other sandwiches. Kelly has also sued Taco Bell and Arby's.
Lawsuits accusing food and beverage companies of misleading customers __ for putting fewer chips than expected in a bag or advertising artificial flavors as real “vanilla," for example __ have grown more common in recent years.
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 big increase from 2010, when just 45 were filed.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
Boeing workers at three Midwest plants where military aircraft and weapons are developed have voted to reject the company’s latest contract offer and to continue a strike that started almost three months ago. The strike by about 3,200 machinists at the plants in the Missouri cities of St. Louis and St. Charles, and in Mascoutah, Illinois, is smaller in scale than a walkout last year by 33,000 Boeing workers who assemble commercial jetliners. The president of the International Association of Machinists says Sunday's outcome shows Boeing hasn't adequately addressed wages and retirement benefits. Boeing says Sunday's vote was close with 51% of union members opposing the revised offer.
