Facts

Plaintiffs Linda Cheslow and Steven Prescott filed a lawsuit against defendant Ghirardelli Chocolate Company in relation to its Premium Baking Chips Classic White Chips.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs contended they purchased Ghirardelli's Premium Baking Chips Classic White Chips under the impression that the product contained white chocolate, but it did not contain any chocolate. Plaintiffs contended defendant Ghirardelli previously marketed a similar version of the product that contained real white chocolate baking chips and then surreptitiously swapped the real white chocolate for artificial white chocolate. Plaintiffs further contended reasonable consumers would not have considered the word "premium" to include "inferior" ingredients such as hydrogenated and palm oils. Plaintiffs contended defendant's reference to "white" in "Classic White," deceived reasonable consumers into thinking "white" represented the type of chocolate in the product, such as white chocolate. Lastly, plaintiffs contended consumers reasonably and detrimentally relied on Ghirardelli's representations of the product as real chocolate, in deciding whether to purchase defendant's products.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant denied plaintiff's contentions, and filed a motion to dismiss the case. Defendant contended plaintiffs failed to allege in their complaint that defendant's product advertised any statements or representations that were false, and failed to allege with particularity its allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation.

Result

The court granted defendant's motion to dismiss. First, the court reasoned that simply because some consumers unreasonably assumed that "white" in the term "white chips" meant white chocolate chips does not make it so. Second, the use of the word "premium" was puffery and a generalized boasting term, upon which no reasonable consumer would have relied.