Sometimes when you want mac and cheese, it's really hard to wait. That's why the promise of a steamy bowl of cheesy goodness in 3.5 minutes is such a selling point for Kraft's Velveeta Shells & Cheese. You just add water, heat in the microwave, and squeeze the cheese packet in the bowl.
But the mac and cheese isn't really ready in 3.5 minutes, is it?
That's just the cook time.
If you calculate in the time spent opening the packages, adding the water, and stirring in the cheese, it could be 4 or 4.5 minutes.
You eat enough of these things, and those minutes will add up.
Before you know it, days of your life have been wasted on a big lie.
At least that's the basis of Amanda Ramirez's class action lawsuit against Kraft for false advertising. She says that Kraft used the false claims to gain an unfair advantage over comparable products by using the false advertising, enabling them to charge more than products that are not falsely advertised.
While the back of the box has the directions listed, and a customer could infer the extra time the steps would take, she says she would not have purchased the product if she had known it contained false advertising claiming the mac and cheese would "be ready in 3.5 minutes."
It's a cheesy lawsuit to be sure, and I'm not sure I believe she was damaged by the advertisement, but she might actually have Kraft on the wording issue. I mean they did claim it would be ready, not that the noodles would cook in 3.5 minutes.
We'll see how it goes.
Thanks to Not the Bee users @cardboardrobot and @mrsswanson for the head's up about this story.
