Major fast food chains like Taco Bell, McDonald's, and Burger King are being targeted by more false advertising lawsuits — but few unhappy customers are reaping the rewards

• In the last three years, there has been a rise in false advertising lawsuits against big food chains.
• McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, and now Taco Bell are among the companies targeted by consumers.

More customers at fast food restaurants such as McDonald's and Taco Bell are ordering their favorite combos with a litigious appetite, mounting false advertising lawsuits when they feel their food doesn't match glossy pictures.

But the rise in the legal actions, with one of the latest efforts being aimed at Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supreme, has not necessarily meant that customers have been successful against fast food giants, an expert in class action lawsuits told Insider.

Between 2020 and 2022, consumers filed at least 200 class action lawsuits concerning false advertising in food products, according to QSR magazine.

On Monday, a New York man filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Taco Bell, arguing that photos of Taco Bell's ads for their Crunchwrap Supreme, Vegan Crunchwrap, Grande Crunchwrap, Mexican Pizza, and Veggie Mexican Pizza, did not live up to the real items, some of which the plaintiff alleged included half the advertised amount of beef.

His was the latest claim in a long line of complaints that chains are skimping on their portions. Here's how others have played out.

Burger King

The law firm representing the New York plaintiff also filed a lawsuit last year in Florida, accusing Burger King of advertising their burgers to be 35% beefier than reality, NBC News reported.

The lawsuit claims that since 2017, Burger King has advertised menu items that appear larger than they are when ordered. In the lawsuit, the corporation rejected the allegations and said that the customer's concerns were not shared by others.

"Because every sandwich is hand-made at the restaurant, the 'look' of each sandwich necessarily will differ," attorneys for Burger King wrote in a court filing.

In some cases, big chains can afford settlements and some policy changes. Typically, major restaurant chains can survive litigating those types of class action lawsuits, Oren Bitan, a lawyer specializing in class action lawsuits for Buchalter Law, told Insider.

A judge ordered the parties to mediation in February 2023, and after the parties reached an impasse, the judge stayed the case indefinitely.

McDonald's and Wendy's

That same firm has also mounted proposed class action lawsuits against McDonald's and Wendy's on similar grounds, according to Reuters.

The two fast food companies are listed as defendants in the New York-based class action lawsuit, which claims that, through their ads, McDonald's misrepresented the size of their hamburger patties and the amount of toppings used.

In particular, the lawsuit features customers unhappy with the actual size of Wendy's Bourbon Bacon Burger. The lawsuit claims that food stylists for the food chains use undercooked patties to make the burgers appear larger, according to The Washington Post.

For McDonald's, using YouTube and Twitter screenshots, the plaintiffs alleged that McDonald's burger advertisements show patties that are 15 to 20% larger than in reality.

Both Wendy's and McDonald's lawyers have filed motions to dismiss the case. Attorneys for Wendy's said that the images submitted by customers misrepresented disclaimers on their own ads.

"The Complaint is devoid of any allegation that the burgers Plaintiff ordered and received were the wrong weight (before cooking), or that they were missing any of the identified toppings," Wendy's attorneys wrote in a filing.

The case is currently in discovery.

There is a high bar for success in the proposed class action food lawsuits like these, Bitan told Insider.

First, plaintiffs need to convince a judge that any reasonable customer would be misled. And if they fail to sway a judge to make it a class action suit, the lawsuit could be limited to damages amounting to the cost of the fast food item for the individual bringing the suit.

Customers who make these claims have to prove the company lied and did not solely exaggerate in ads.

Big class action suits related to false advertising in food must "analyze whether a 'reasonable consumer' would be misled by the advertising at issue and whether the advertising at issue is merely 'puffery' as opposed to a representation of facts regarding the actual product," Bitan told Insider.

Buffalo Wild Wings

In March, an Illinois customer sued Buffalo Wild Wings, claiming that their advertised boneless wings were actually chicken nuggets. The restaurant has since responded by jeering him on social media.

In a court filing, the company said the plaintiff had a "bone to pick" with them and asked for a judge to dismiss the claim.

Sometimes plaintiffs or law firms are suing companies in bulk, and hoping one false advertising claim will stick, as shown by the eager Buffalo Wild Wings customer, who has also sued a host of other product and food brands.

"Success is a mixed bag but typically major restaurant chains are able to minimize potential liability by filing motions to dismiss and opposing motions for class certification," Bitan told Insider.

The case is currently ongoing.

Subway's tuna lawsuit

In July, a lawsuit against Subway claiming that the chain misrepresented serving real tuna was dismissed.

The plaintiff claimed she had complications with a pregnancy in a request to dismiss the suit, according to CBS.

According to NPR, the lawsuit cited a marine biologist who tested Subway's tuna samples at 20 locations, and found that 19 samples did not identify tuna DNA but instead, cattle, chicken, and pork DNA.

During the two-year litigation, Subway defended its product intensely, launching subwaytunafacts.com.

The company has also sought to recoup $617,955 in legal fees from the plaintiffs, showing the steep cost of challenging a food giant on the integrity of their product.