Hero Sues Hershey’s for Not Putting Enough Candy in Boxes

Don’t you just hate when you get yourself a nice, big box of candy, but it’s only half full? Well one Missouri man hates that so much that he’s filed a class-action lawsuit against Hershey’s on the grounds that the company has been under-filling its boxes of Whoppers and Reese’s Pieces to make it look like people will be getting a whole lot more candy than they actually are.

Almost all food packages contain some empty space. In some cases, like with potato chips, that is done to keep the food safe in the container. Sometimes it’s just what happens when physics causes a box of snacks to settle during shipment. But according to Redbook, the plaintiff of this case alleges that Hershey’s is intentionally under-filling its boxes to make people think they’ll be getting more if they shell out for the really big box of candy.

The plaintiff cut open boxes of Reese’s Pieces and Whoppers to show how empty they are, and he asserts that Reese’s Pieces are under-filled by about 29 percent, and Whoppers are under-filled by about 41 percent.

There is a lot of empty space in those boxes.

Hershey’s says the box size is irrelevant because the boxes also have the candy weight printed on the size. That box of Whoppers may only be a bit more than half full, but the box clearly says that it contains five ounces of candy. Most people probably don’t know what “five ounces” of candy looks like off the top of their head, but it is true that when one picks up the box it rattles a lot.

”Any consumer would recognize immediately upon picking up a box of Reese’s Pieces or Whoppers that its contents rattle noticeably and audibly with every movement,” Hershey’s said in its attempt to get the case dismissed.

The case was not dismissed, however, because the judge said that in Missouri the case would depend on “reasonableness” and what decision a typical shopper might make when confronted with one of Hershey’s boxes of candy.

The case will proceed, and the outcome remains to be seen. If the class action were open to everybody who hates buying a box of candy only to find that it’s almost half empty, we’d probably all get a place in it.

(Image: Photo / consumermediallc)

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