Burger King Accused Of Inflating Sandwich Sizes In Its Ads In Lawsuit

Burger King is being hit with a federal lawsuit for inflating the sizes of their menu items in advertising campaigns and promo images, with docs claiming that every food item for sale at the chain is “materially overstated,” when being advertised.

This image, which uses Burger King’s signature Whopper as an example, was one of many pieces of evidence gathered for the class action lawsuit first filed by South Florida lawyer Anthony Russo against Burger King, and their parent company Restaurant Brands International. Russo said he has evidence of BK beginning to inflate its portion sizes in the fall of 2017, and that current advertising for the Whopper now displays it to be 35% bigger than it really is.

The lawsuit alleged that from 2017, “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 suit has also compiled various tweets from disappointed customers and videos by online fast food critics that raised similar concerns.

This is not the first time Burger King is being accused of these practices as well. About 12 years ago, a UK location was flagged by the country’s advertising authority for serving burgers that had “considerably less” thickness than what was shown in advertising.

Walter Coleman, Marco DiLeonardo, Matthew Fox and Madelyn Salzman are the listed plaintiffs in this suit representing customers who have “purchased a Burger King menu item based on false and misleading advertising concerning the size and/or the amount of ingredients contained in said menu item.” They are seeking unspecified monetary damages and for courts to order the end of the potentially misleading practices outlined in the suit.