Sara Lee has filed a hot dog lawsuit against fellow US food giant Kraft Foods’ Oscar Mayer business.
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The suit alleges that the Kraft unit has falsely claimed that its Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks have a superior taste to Sara Lee’s Ball Park branded hotdogs.
The suit focuses on a series of Oscar Mayer adverts that compare the hotdog brands and argues that Oscar Mayer is presenting a taste superiority claim that is “false” and “misleading to consumers”, Sara Lee said yesterday (20 May).
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“This is a weak attempt by Oscar Mayer to mislead millions of consumers with false and inaccurate claims,” said Chuck Hemmingway, Ball Park brand director.
“Simply put, we believe that these untrue statements are all a bunch of bologna,” he added.
Sara Lee emphasised that, according to IRI data, the growth of its Ball Park beef hotdog line has outstripped Oscar Mayer’s total beef hotdog line growth – with sales up 14.2% compared to Oscar Mayer’s 1.1%.
“We’re the nation’s beef hotdog leader. Millions of Americans have voted Ball Park with their wallets and their taste buds and we’re not going to stand by and allow these consumers to be misled,” Hemmingway said.
