Woman sues Hershey for selling Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins without ‘cute’ faces seen on packaging

When Cynthia Kelly opened her Reese’s Peanut Butter Halloween treat, she felt tricked by “false and deceptive advertising.” The candy’s packaging depicts a pumpkin with a jack-o’-lantern face, but what’s inside is a less-appealing blob of chocolate-coated peanut butter.

On Thursday, Kelly filed a class-action lawsuit against the Hershey Co. for $5 million. Kelly alleges she bought a bag of the Reese’s Halloween candy for approximately $4.49, when she noticed the candy’s “cute looking carving of a pumpkin’s mouth and eyes” at the checkout line. The product Kelly purchased did not have any of the “cute” face carvings seen on the package, according to the lawsuit.

Kelly claims she would not have purchased the product if she knew it did not have the detailed face presented on the packaging.

The lawsuit calls into question the advertising on several Reese’s products for not containing the “carved out artistic designs” depicted on the packaging. Reese’s White Ghosts, Reese’s Peanut Butter Footballs, Reese’s Peanut Butter Ghosts, Reese’s Peanut Butter Bats and others are under scrutiny.

“Hershey’s labels for the products are materially misleading and numerous consumers have been tricked and misled by the pictures on the products’ packaging,” the lawsuit alleges.

Several consumers have gone online to express disappointment over the lack of artistic design on Reese’s seasonal candy, the lawsuit notes. A list of YouTube clips are provided in the lawsuit of consumers claiming to be misled by the Reese’s advertising.

One YouTube clip is titled, “Reese’s Halloween Candy LIED To Me.” In another, a food reviewer says he was “flabbergasted” when he opened his Halloween candy to discover there was no face on the pumpkin-shaped peanut butter cup.

“Reese’s, what are you doing?” he says. “Look at the picture on the packet. Its like a pumpkin with faces and a little mouth — then you open up the packet and you are presented with that monstrosity.”

Hershey will join the expanding list of food companies sued over false advertising claims. In 2023, a New York man filed a class-action lawsuit against Taco Bell, claiming he was given less food than was advertised. Burger King was sued in 2022 when a customer claimed his Whopper was 35% smaller than shown in ads. And last year, McDonald’s and Wendy’s were both sued over the size of their burgers — the case was dismissed.

A spokesperson for Hershey told The Washington Post the company will not comment on pending litigations.