The Marketing Lie Lindt Chocolate Just Admitted To Telling

In defending its claims that its chocolate is safe to consume, Swiss chocolate manufacturer Lindt & Sprüngli (Lindt) seems to have undermined its own marketing strategy, according to Agence France-Presse's (AFP) article, published on Barron's website. Lindt is facing a U.S. class action lawsuit in New York District Court's Eastern Division. In its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, Lindt's attorneys stated that the company uses exaggerated claims about its chocolate to boost sales, essentially admitting that Lindt's claims of excellence are untrue.

The lawsuit, filed in February 2023, alleges that Lindt's product labeling is deceptive. The candy bar wrappers at the heart of the lawsuit state that Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate 70% Cocoa and Lindt Excellence Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa chocolate bars are "expertly crafted with the finest ingredients" when in fact the 70% cocoa bar contained unsafe amounts of the heavy metal cadmium and the 85% cocoa bar contained unsafe levels of lead. This product labeling misleads consumers into thinking that the dark chocolate bars are safe to consume, according to the plaintiffs, who hail from six U.S. states.

The class action lawsuit arose after Consumer Reports published the results of its dark chocolate tests in February 2022. Consumer Reports used an independent lab to assess 28 dark chocolate bars for the presence of heavy metals. Of the bars tested, only five were found to be "safer choices," although those bars contained small amounts of lead and cadmium.

According to AFP (via Barron's), Lindt's attorneys continue to claim that the company's products are safe to eat. The attorneys disagree with the plaintiffs' allegations. They state in their motion to dismiss that the disputed labeling terms on the dark chocolate bars are legally "unactionable" because they are "puffery" rather than statements of fact.

Puffery, in the legal sense, is defined as an unmeasurable marketing claim that consumers would not use to make purchasing decisions, according to Roger Colaizzi, Chris Crook, et al., in a Summer 2017 article in Antitrust magazine. In court, puffery is indeed unactionable because it can't be measured. Claiming puffery is a common defense strategy in cases like the lawsuit against Lindt.

However, by claiming that Lindt's advertising terms on the chocolate bars in question are puffery, Lindt's attorneys have unleashed a backlash back home in Switzerland, according to Swiss newspaper Le Temps. Le Temps, quoting from NZZ am Sonntag, a German-language Swiss newspaper, alleges that Lindt has undermined its own reputation for excellence. This is no small thing, as Swiss luxury brands pride themselves on their reputation for quality. The judge in the U.S. lawsuit disagreed with Lindt's attorneys and denied their motion to dismiss.