Reese’s Halloween Candies Escape Lawsuit Alleging Deceptive Packaging
September 24, 2025 – Hershey’s Reese’s candies dodged a legal bullet Friday after a โjudge dismissedโ a class-action lawsuitโ claiming โคthe company misled consumers withโ its โฃHalloween-themed packaging. the suit alleged that the spooky designs depicted on the wrappers – jack-o’-lanterns, ghosts, andโ snowmen – weren’t reflected in โคthe plain chocolate shapes inside.
U.S. District Judge Melissa Damian,presiding over the case in southern Florida,ruled that the plaintiffs failed โขto demonstrate any actual economic harm resulting from the discrepancy. In essence,the judge found that while consumers might have been โฃ disappointed that their unwrapped Reese’s pumpkins lacked carved โfaces,the candy still functionedโข as intended: it tasted good.
“Plaintiffs’ conclusory allegationsโฆhave allegedly been deprived of the benefit of their bargain,” Damian wrote in her ruling, “are insufficient to establish a concrete economic injury.”
The Core of the Complaint
The lawsuit,originally filed โin 2024,took aim at several popular Halloweenโ and holiday-themed Reese’s products,including:
* Reese’s โPeanut Butter Pumpkins
* reese’s White Ghosts
* Reese’s Peanut Butter โขShapes Assortment (snowmen,Stockings,Bells)
Plaintiffs argued that Hersheyโฃ engagedโ in deceptive advertising by showcasing โdetailed artistic designs on the โคpackaging that simply didn’t exist on the candies themselves.They claimed the difference between the promise of the wrapper and theโ reality of the chocolate constituted a misleading practice.
Why the Lawsuit Failed
Judge Damian’s decision hinged on the legal principle of “economic injury.” The plaintiffs needed to prove they suffered a quantifiable financial loss as aโฃ direct result of the packaging. Theโค judgeโฃ persistent that disappointment alone wasn’t enough. She explicitly stated the candies โฃweren’t “so flawed as to render them worthless,” meaning consumers still received a satisfactory productโ despite theโค lack โof detailed designs.
Implications and Ongoing โTrends
This case highlights a growing trend of lawsuits targeting food companies overโ perceived discrepancies between product packaging and the actual product. While some of these suits have found success, this ruling underscores the difficulty of proving โฃeconomic harm in cases where the product itself is not โdefective, merely different from its advertised appearance.
Consumers can expect to see continued scrutiny of advertising practices, but this decision suggests that simply being “underwhelmed” by โฃa โขproduct’s appearance won’t be enough to win a โขlegal battle.
Keywords: Reese’s, Hershey’s, lawsuit, โฃHalloween Candy, Deceptive Advertising, Class Action, Judge ruling, Consumer Protection, Food โlaw, economic Injury.