MIAMI – Another proposed class action lawsuit has been filed against the maker of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, alleging the company tricked Florida consumers into buying a malt-based knockoff containing no whisky.
Plaintiff Rafael Hernandez and others similarly situated filed their complaint October 4 against Sazerac Company in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
“Sazerac capitalized off the goodwill and consumer trust it built off its highly successful Fireball brand with a classic ‘bait-and-switch’ scheme intended to deceive consumers with Fireball-Whisky-branding to get them to unknowingly purchase an indistinguishable malt-based knockoff that contained no whisky and only half the amount of alcohol (ABV),” the 24-page complaint states.
According to the proposed class action, Sazerac’s misleading labeling and branding violates the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
“Marketing a malt beverage as if it were a famous whisky is unscrupulous and injurious to consumers,” the filing states.
At issue is the smaller, 16.5 percent ABV bottles of Fireball that are sold in grocery and convenience stores – not the 33 percent ABV Fireball Cinnamon Whisky sold in liquor stores.
According to the filing, the complaint is one of several, virtually identical class actions filed against Sazerac in federal courts throughout the country.
Federal courts in California and New York already have certified classes of consumers from those states. The Florida complaint seeks certification of a class of in-state consumers.
“As alleged in all these cases, the facts of Defendant’s shameless deception here are pretty simple and straightforward: After 36 years of marketing and selling Fireball Whisky and attaining viral popularity of the Fireball Whisky brand, Sazerac launched a knockoff cinnamon-flavored product that was made of malt instead of whisky, which could be sold as an impulse purchase item in stores where whisky could not (‘Fireball Malt’),” the complaint states.
“In order to get consumers to buy the new, unknown, and inferior Fireball Malt product, Sazerac packaged the new Fireball Malt product in identical bottles and labels as the original Fireball Whisky product.”
Sazerac “deliberately” designed the Fireball Malt bottle to deceive consumers, the complaint alleges.
It notes that both products are the same “golden-caramel color” glowing through transparent 50
mL or 100 mL distilled spirit bottles sealed with red caps, with a similarly colored label that resembles burnt paper, with printed text in a similar typeface, and an image of a red dragon splitting a fireball, set between the words “red” and “hot.”
“Had Plaintiff and the other similarly situated Florida consumers known that Fireball Malt was not Fireball Whisky and that it contained no whisky and only half the amount of alcohol, they either would not have purchased it, or they would not have agreed to pay as much as they did for the product,” the filing states.
According to the complaint, the number of class members is presently unknown; however, “thousands” are believed to have purchased the Fireball Malt.
The lawsuit seeks class certification; injunctive relief; damages; pre-judgment and post-judgment interest; and attorneys’ fees, costs, and expenses.
Gold Law PA in Miami Beach and Garrett Berg Law PA in Miami – the plaintiff’s counsel – have requested to be appointed class counsel in the action.
