Blanketed Disputes

Blankets and buffalo wings

A consumer that filed a class action lawsuit against Buffalo Wild Wings earlier this year is now turning his compensation efforts toward a home goods company.  In the restaurant lawsuit filed in March, the plaintiff, Aimen Halim, claimed that Buffalo Wild Wings falsely advertises its boneless buffalo wings as “wings,” when the meat is actually the white meat of a chicken.  In this lawsuit, Halim claimed that had he known that the boneless wings were not deboned wing meat and more resembled chicken nuggets, he might not have ordered that particular item, or he would have paid less.

Months after a judge dismissed the chicken meat dispute, Halim has banded together with four other plaintiffs who question the deceptive marketing tactics of a popular blanket brand Berkshire Blanket & Home Company.  According to the advertising produced for one of its plush blankets, Berkshire claims that the process of manufacturing the blankets is environmentally safe.  Specifically, the controversial blanket was once called “EcoSoft Blanket” and was branded as using half of the water to dye and manufacture.  The issue that Halim maintains about this advertisement is the ambiguity of “half the water.”  Based on Berkshire’s inability or unwillingness to further explain or reference how it calculated this measurement, Halim has accused the company of deceiving customers.

Similar to the first lawsuit filed in March, it may be difficult for Halim to substantiate the damages and justify the $5 million in sought compensation.  Halim aims to represent the consumers who were led to believe that they were purchasing a green product.  Although Berkshire has not necessarily backed its claim of “half the water,” the company’s “EcoSoft Blanket” has been rebranded as the “Soft Blanket.”  It is distributed to retailers, such as Costco and Amazon, in a variety of sizes for $20 to $50.  A judge is now left to decide the fate of the class action and if the claims against Berkshire will warm up in court.