An alleged cheesy bait-and-switch could cost Kraft Heinz $5 million, if one Florida woman gets her way.
She is suing over its microwavable mac-and-cheese cups because, she says, the dish takes longer to make than the front of the box states.
While Velveeta Shells & Cheese is advertised as being “ready in 3½ minutes,” that’s only how long each cup needs to be microwaved, Amanda Ramirez says in her suit.
Following the other instructions — removing the lid and cheese sauce pouch, stirring in the water and then mixing in the cheese sauce pouch after microwaving — makes the process take longer, she claims.
Ramirez recently told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that she wouldn’t have bought the cups if she’d known the prep time took longer than 3½ minutes.
“Consumers seeing ‘ready in 3½ minutes’ will believe it represents the total amount of time it takes to prepare the product, meaning from the moment it is unopened to the moment it is ready for consumption,” the suit states.
The product costs “approximately no less than $10.99 for eight 2.39 oz cups,” according to Ramirez’s filing.
The $5 million figure factors in statutory and punitive damages, as well as interest and costs, with Ramirez expecting at least 100 people to sign onto what will become a class-action lawsuit, the Sentinel reported. The suit was filed earlier this month in U.S. District Court in Miami.
“We are aware of this frivolous lawsuit and will strongly defend against the allegations in the complaint,” stated a Kraft Heinz Foods Company spokesperson.
It is a matter of principle, says one of the attorneys involved in the case.
“I’ve gotten a lot of flak about this case, but deceptive advertising is deceptive advertising,” lawyer William Wright of West Palm Beach told the Washington Post. “Here, Kraft charges extra for a desirable feature (saving time) but the marketing is false, it takes far longer for the product to be ready than as advertised. Deceptive advertising plain and simple.”
Attorney Spencer Sheehan, who heads the other law firm on the case, sued Kraft last year for not having enough strawberries in its Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts.
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#1. The box says 1. Add water 2. Microwave for 3.5 min. 3. enjoy
#1. How fast can see read the instructions each and every time she makes the Mac&Cheese?
#2. Following the other instructions — removing the lid and cheese sauce pouch, stirring in the water and then mixing in the cheese sauce pouch after microwaving — makes the process take longer, she claims. – Maybe she is really slow reader and moves really slow. “Preparing these microwavable cups are a breeze. Just combine the pasta with water up to the fill line in the cup, microwave for 3.5 minutes, and stir in the cheese sauce mix.
#3. West Palm Beach is the home of a lot of mentally deficient, old Democrats, But one doesn’t have to be old, to be a mentally deficient, Democrat.
#4. For $5,000,000.00 this fool could buy 454,959.05 boxes of Mac&Cheese.
AND how many times has she even READ the label to its fullest…
Of course she could always cook the elbow macaroni according to the package directions; melt the butter, add flour, whisk, add milk, whisk some more; grate cheese, add to roux, thoroughly combine, salt and pepper to taste. Preheat oven to 350º! Drain macaroni and place in greased baking dish, add cheese mixture, combine well. Place in oven and bake until top is golden brown. Remove from oven using mitts, dish may be HOT, and serve. Total time including prep and baking: figure on one hour. How much more satisfying!
OR how’s about eating something HEALTHY!
For real???
Stupidity on steroids.
The sad part – some lawyer is bringing this into a courtroom, with a straight face! Hopefully the judge tosses them out, but not expecting that will happen these days. Twenty years ago, my insurer complained about frivolous lawsuits eating into their bottom line. They mentioned a case in California (surprise!) where a burglar sued a company after he injured himself falling through a rooftop skylight while trying to rob a building. He won the case, walked away with some cash. Sadly, nothing has been done since then to fix this.
That’s why i;d love to see judges, start taking this out ON LAWYERS like this..