Class action suit says Burger King misled customers about burger size

has been accused of deliberately using its ads to mislead customers as to the size of its burgers in a federal filing representing more than 100 patrons who say the fast-food giant’s marketing practices constitute ‘consumer fraud.’

The class-action suit, filed Monday in US District Court in Miami, Harga Kaca Tempered claims Burger King brass, through a rash of recent ads for some of its menu items, knowingly deceived customers with images of mammoth-sized menu items noticeably larger than their real-world counterparts.

According to the 26-page filing, the fast-food firm ‘overstated’ several of its menu items – including the iconic Whopper – by as much as 35 percent in misleading marketing images, beefing them up to coincide with an ad campaign that touted larger portions at the eatery. 

The suit features a slew of shocking side-by-side comparisons of menu items’ beefed-up likeness in the chain’s marketing adverts with their relatively wimpy – and sometimes even bite-sized – real-life equivalents.

‘Burger King advertises its burgers as large burgers compared to competitors and containing oversized meat patties and ingredients that overflow over the bun to make it appear that the burgers are approximately 35% larger in size’ to coincide with a 2017 marketing campaign that touted the increase, the suit states.

The complaint also contends marketers used ‘oversized patties’ in shoots for the advertisements, that made menu items look as if they contained ‘more than double the meat than the actual burger.’ 

The plaintiff seek ‘to end Burger King’s unfair and materially misleading advertising’ practices, which has seen the chain tout larger portion sizes – namely for its Whopper and other signature sandwiches – when compared to other fast-food eateries.

The suit argues that Burger King execs’ trade practices are ‘unfair and deceptive’ in how items are conveyed to its customers, and calls for monetary damages ‘fully compensating all individuals who were deceived’ by the company by purchasing ‘overstated menu items.’    

The plaintiffs also request the company immediately correct its advertising to address the inconsistencies, the suit says, and asks for a jury to preside over the case.

The fast-food giant, which started out as a small burger chain in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1953, is owned by Restaurant Brands International – which also owns Tim Hortons and Popeyes.Shares of the stock, which trades under QSR, were up .76 to 58.99 on Monday.

One of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the class-action case, James Kelly, said the goal of the lawsuit is to get Burger King and other fast-food retailers across the country to advertise their items in a way that reflects reality.

‘We are ultimately seeking changes to the photos for the materially overstated menu items and fairness across the industry on the issue,’ he told Fox News on Sunday.

The exaggerated menu items named in the complaint include several from the popular Whopper and BK King lines, as well as virtually every other burger option at the eatery. 

The suit says Burger King ‘overstates the size of nearly every menu item in its current advertisements,’ including generic options such as its Bacon Double Cheeseburger and Hamburger.

Breakfast sandwiches are cited in the suit as well, such as the egg-and-cheese Croisann’Wich and Double Sausage sandwich. 

The filing says that Burger King ‘began to materially overstate the size of its burgers in its advertisements’ starting in September 2017,  when it began a new ad campaign for its preeminent Whopper that proclaimed the sandwich had been increased in size by more than a third. 

The campaign, whose marketing images are still used by the company, asserted that the sandwich’s beef content also increased ‘by more than 100 percent,’ the complaint states. 

‘Although the size of the Whopper increased materially in Burger King’s advertisements, the recipe or the amount of beef or ingredients contained in Burger King’s Whopper has never changed,’ the lawsuit claims.        

The complaint includes side-by-side photo comparisons of advertised items – such as the Whopper and new Whopper Melt – bursting with beef and ingredients, with their much less impressive real-world counterparts.

It also cites social media posts from patrons left unimpressed and disappointed by the eatery’s real-life menu portions.

In a post cited in the suit, a Twitter user based out of Lynnwood, Washington, Colin J.McMahon, shared side-by-side shots of a Burger King Whopper Melt advertisement and a photo of the same sandwich – shockingly undersized – snapped by the social media user during a recent visit to the fast food restaurant.

‘Am I a joke to you, @BurgerKing?’ McMahon wrote in the post, dated March 14, pointing to the jarring comparison shots.

The suit also cited a further post in which another Burger King diner found fault with his Big King – posting a photo of an astoundingly small sandwich instead of the hefty $6 double-bacon cheeseburger advertised by the chain.

‘Hey @BurgerKing,’ the user wrote, also tagging the chain in the post.’I order a «Big» King, and get this? Now I’m reading articles about how your new Whopper Melts are tiny too. Wtf is going on?’

The user added: ‘I’ll come back when you stop scamming us.I used to be a 2 time a weeker!’

The suit also references complaints concerning Burger King products made by YouTube fast-food reviewers such as John Jurasek, who criticized the Big King burger’s size as ‘disappointing’ in a video posted to YouTube earlier this month. 

In the video, Jurasek, who boasts nearly 3 million subscribers on the platform, says, ‘The picture (in Burger King advertisements) makes you think that this thing is like two pounds or something, that it’s going to be this massive, massive, sandwich … it’s not that big.For six bucks, the size is a little disappointing.’    

Four plaintiffs are named in the complaint – Walter Coleman, of Florida, and Marco DiLeonardo, Matthew Fox and Madelyn Salzman, of New York. They are joined in the suit by more than 100 unnamed plaintiffs, the complaint attests, looking for justice from the fast food chain.

The plaintiffs claim they wouldn’t have purchased sandwiches from the eatery if they were aware ‘that said burgers were much smaller than advertised.’

The suit is not the first to call out Burger King for alleged false advertising.

In 2010, the chain was ordered by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) -the United Kingdom’s advertising regulator – to stop advertising overstated burgers.

In July of that year, the BBC reported on the federal body’s ruling, which came after it noticed inconsistencies some of the eatery’s burgers when compared to marketing images advertising the sandwiches.The ASA reportedly found the burgers’ thickness and overall height to be ‘considerably less’ than those asserted in their respective ads.

‘We also examined the size of the burgers in the hands of an average-sized man and considered that they did not fill the hands to the same extent as the burger featured in the advert,’ the ASA said according to the report.’We concluded that the visuals in the advert were likely to mislead viewers as to the size and composition of the product.’

Anthony Russo, the other attorney representing the plaintiffs in the current case, told Newsweek Friday that the goal of the recently filed suit is to garner transparency on Burger King’s part.

‘It’s pretty clear in this day and age when truth and honesty is really the most important thing in what you’re doing because anything is so verifiable,’ Russo told the outlet.’This is exactly the opposite of what they’re doing. This is old-school stuff of telling you what you want to hear. [I]t’s advertised as so inviting it’s misleading.’

Neither attorney has yet been in contact with anyone from Burger King’s legal team.

A spokesperson for the company told DailyMail.com Monday when asked for comment concerning the case, that ‘Burger King does not comment on pending or potential litigation.’

The case is currently ongoing.