The suit was brought by a handful of US consumers, but you can get in on the settlement to the tune of $5 per jar of Nutella that you may have purchased, up to a total of $20, no receipt needed.
The Nationwide Class provides for a settlement fund of $2,500,000 and the California Class provides for a settlement fund of $550,000 for a total of $3,050,000. Class Members can receive up to $4 per jar of Nutella that they purchased during the time periods listed above. Class Members who purchased multiple jars of Nutella during the time periods can submit a claim for up to five jars for a maximum award of $20 per household. If the value of the claims of the Nationwide Class exceeds $2,500,000, or the value of the claims of the California Class exceeds $550,000, then payments will be reduced proportionally.
I think the lawsuit was appropriate
I love Nutella. Who doesn’t? But marketing Nutella as breakfast food? That moves it from the candy aisle in your brain to the meal part, takes away the guilt component and makes it a part of your daily routine rather than a once in while indulgence. It’s brilliant marketing, actually.
But there’s no way that stuff is part of a daily wholesome breakfast. As a mom and a physician, that the ad truly pissed me off when I first saw it. Nutella’s first ingredient listed on the label is sugar. And yet sugar is never mentioned in the ad – just hazelnuts, milk and cocoa. So yeah, I think that’s false advertising.
Some have suggested that the lawsuit is frivolous. A Nutella breakfast is no worse than a bowl of sweet cereal, something advertised to kids all the time, they say. Just read the label, others tell us, and anyway, how stupid can you be not to know that Nutella is basically spreadable candy in a jar?
To them, I’d argue that many American consumers, who may have trouble affording a trip to Disney World, let alone to Europe, have until recently never heard of Nutella. For many of them, this ad was their introduction to the product. Imagine that if the first time you heard what a Hershey bar was, it was being advertised as part of a balanced wholesome breakfast. Would you think that was false advertising?
I do agree that all it takes is a glance at the label to know what you’re buying, and abdicating responsibility for your wallet and your health to advertisers is not smart. But highlighting to ad makers that smoke and mirrors won’t fly is the right thing to do. If this makes the Mad Men pause before writing their next line of copy, then I say $3 million is a small price to pay. Not to mention all the free advertising the settlement is netting Nutella. Hmmmm… I wonder if the whole thing isn’t just one giant marketing scheme?
This isn’t the first time Ferrero has been asked to stop pretending Nutella is healthy
They’ve been slapped on the wrists in Europe for the same thing. The UK actually banned Nutella’s breakfast ads there. But attempts by the EU to ban advertisting of unhealthy foods is meeting opposition, in large part because of fears that it would hurt Nutella’s business.
Please. That stuff is like crack cocaine. It will always have a market.
Do you know what pisses me off even more than that stupid Nutella ad?
I just found out that the Nutella sold in the US is not as good as the stuff they make and sell in Europe.
Now that’s something to sue about…
Nutella mixed with peanut butter – heaven on a spoon. I’ll happily get my $20 and then spend it on more Nutella. That sucks about the decreased quality here in the US, though.
Good to know. I did not think about the sugar content. When I saw this ad and heard that Nutella just has “hazelnuts, skim milk and a hint of cocoa” it sounded so good that thought I could replace the occasional spoonful of peanut butter with Nutella. I did not try because I knew the chocolate flavor will induce me to eat much more than a spoonful.
I would like to recieve my money back I knoe its only 4.00 per jar. But I bought more than that!
Judy – Click the link and apply. However, note that the settlement will be reduced accordingly depending on the number of folks who apply. So I’m pretty much expecting to get very little back. Knowing America, anyone who hears about it is going to apply, whether they bought the stuff or not. So that’s 2.5 million bucks divided by let’s say a conservative two percent of the 80 million households with a computer (needed to download the application or send it online) – yep, I’ll be getting about a buck fifty back.
Peggy
just please send my money
I think someone should also sue the ad agency who came up with the campaign. Sure, the client has the final responsibility for the ad, but nothing will change with the actual advertising unless the (m)ad men themselves are forced to be accountable for their actions by coughing up some benjamins.
Great idea!
You know, they run the same campaign in Australia and Europe. Each place they get slapped on the wrist, they just pay the cost (3 million is actually very little for this company), and move on to do the same thing elsewhere.
It must be a very successful ad .
Peggy