Everything looks better in advertisements. From that dress that fit the model much better to the ice cream sundae that had way more chocolate in the commercial, we’ve all fallen victim the pull of ads. And the fast food industry may just be the biggest culprit. While it’s safe to say we should know by now that the burger we get at the drive-thru isn’t going to look exactly like the photo on the menu, there are a few extreme cases. In fact, some cases have been extreme enough to spur a lawsuit. Below, we’re rounding up a few fast food menu items that are notoriously smaller than advertised—many of which even went to court over it.
1. Taco Bell Mexican Pizza
Taco Bell fans waited a long time for the return of the Mexican Pizza—but customer Frank Siragusa was disappointed by the size of the item when he ordered it in New York. He was so disappointed, in fact, that he filed a lawsuit. Siragusa claimed that the Mexican Pizza contained only half of the beef and bean fillings he was expecting based on advertisements, accusing the chain of being "misleading." He cited the same issue with Taco Bell's Crunchwrap Supremes.
2. Burger King Whopper
Similar to the Taco Bell lawsuit, there was recently a lawsuit filed against Burger King over the sizes of their Whoppers. Last August, five customers who purchased Whoppers between 2017 and 2022 sued the chain for false advertising, alleging that Burger King advertised burgers with ingredients that "overflow the bun," when in reality they are "much smaller than advertised." They claimed that the advertisements portrayed burgers as much as 35% larger.
3. Wendy's Cheeseburgers
Justin Chimienti was similarly disappointed in the sizes of burgers he purchased from Wendy's between 2016 and 2022, which he complained were 15% to 20% smaller than advertised. He filed a lawsuit against the chain, but it was dismissed by Judge Hector Gonzalez, who said the ads "are no different than other companies’ use of visually appealing images to foster positive associations with their products."
4. McDonald's Cheeseburgers
In addition to Wendy's, Chimienti also filed a suit against McDonald's for the size of their cheeseburgers, which he said are 20% larger in advertisements.
5. McDonald's Nuggets
Although there was no lawsuit involved with this one, disgruntled McDonald's customers did take to Reddit to express their anger over the size of "tiny, thin" nuggets, calling the order a "rip-off."
Customers also accused the chain of "shrinkflation," a common complaint against many fast food chains these days (it even has a Reddit page dedicated to it!).
6. Arby's sandwiches
Seriously, where's the beef? That's what Joseph Alongis wanted to know when he ordered Beef 'N Cheddar and Smokehouse Brisket sandwiches from Arby's in August 2023. He was upset enough by the sizes of these sandwiches to file a lawsuit the following month. According to him, they were half the size they appeared to be in advertisements, claiming that misleading photos showed sandwiches with "approximately 100% more meat."
What do you think? Is this a good enough reason to sue, or even to stop ordering the sandwiches? Or is it just to be expected? Let us know in the comments!
READ MORE: Chick-fil-A Offers Gift Cards After $4.4M Settlement Over Misleading Customers
