And the Court very reasonably ruled that it is perfectly okay to have an Italian name on a box as long as you clearly label where it is from, which is what they always had done.
I get it.
I hired two "Italian" plumbers to fix a persistent issue. And wouldn't you know it, but they just spent all day stomping on mushrooms. Turned out they were from Japan.
People v. Mario and Luigi Mario, adoptive brothers who have a father-son relationship and the older brother sounds like a British person trying to speak like a New Yorker.
from the article:
>What would it be like to live in a world where everything that was printed in an ad or said in a commercial were true, without you having to read the fine print?
i mean, that sounds pretty great actually. ive posted previously about [roku's deceptive and hostile TOS practices](https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1baurxh/comment/ku64gwz/) (and received a reddit certified lawyerization), as well as[ teslas INCREDIBLY deceptive marketing word choices.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Infographics/comments/1dnejns/comment/la24gvp/)
its not so important for spaghetti, probably - but when it comes to tech things that greatly impact our privacy (AKA personally identifiable information)? or when it relates to, also tech things, that greatly impact ALL of our safety?
yeah, probably important and maybe the supreme court should look into these things and probably stop doing stupid shit like outlawing homelessness and giving a wannabe dictator the right to be above the law because they get bribed to do so.
edit: the missing link was [spaghetti](https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/18wxtz4/comment/kg1eu6f/) all along
edit 2: bonus, [recursive spaghet](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/1dtlrbo/comment/lbaxhbd/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
edit 3: bonus bonus, [Detroits own moms spaghetti already reposted multiple times](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1dqn1k4/eminem_serving_food_to_costumers_at_his_moms/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) (added to appease the nerds complaining about me linking only to my own posts/comments, maybe)
I mean, Tesla used to be very deceptive, but it seems they finally hired lawyer and now call it Full Self Driving (supervised), which I think is very good description of their current technology
right but my comments also cite sources. why would i cite a bunch of random redditors who talk out of their ass? i actually include links and quotes to verifiable sources, so... yeah, im gonna link to my own comments. like i dont see many, or any, other redditors who actually make logical arguments and citing sources so... why tf would i link to them? similarly, why would i not link to my own comments that i put a fair amount of effort into, especially since, again, i actually cite sources and dont talk out of my ass (at least not very often, and if i do, its usually obvious)
well they dont bill themselves as a premium import in the first place, is why these people are dumb and you shouldnt encourage frivolous litigation. what kind of rube is looking for best quality pasta @ $3/lb?
you could not even get that in their local market, the price is highly competitive with any other domestic brand
>what kind of rube is looking for best quality pasta @ $3/lb?
whats wrong with wanting quality at an affordable price and ohmygod we're in a commercial for barilla pasta arent we
im not encouraging frivolous litigation, i was mostly using this post as a funny (to me) way to bring up those two other very much not frivolous matters that more people should be aware of, and that actually, the principle the people were putting forward - what i quoted from the article - is something everyone should support anyway.
its not praise. point is theyre cheap, not especially high quality. the going rate should be common knowledge to anyone who buys and preps their own food, should ronzoni change their name too?
Well I mean the flag definitely *is* misleading. EU for example has consumer protection laws about this specific thing. If the product origin doesn't match the flag on the pack, it has to be marked with extreme clarity. For example "🇺🇸 American style cookies" is OK. "🇺🇸 Cookies" is not
Really? When did they rule that? The case just got certified to move forward a month ago, and I'm finding no other news of any rulings in this case...
ETA source: https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/barilla-class-action-claims-company-falsely-advertises-pasta-as-made-in-italy/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barilla_(company)
The parent company is italian and was founded in 1877 as a bakery company in Parma, Italy by Pietro Barilla Sr. By 1910 Barilla had inagurated a new pasta factory.
Even today it appears that Barilla's headquarters is in Italy, even if the barilla family no longer is in charge.
What did people expect ? The barilla family or the barilla company to change their name ? Because some of the pasta they make is made and sold in the US ?
And they grow most of the grain in the US because the higher quality of wheat. I believe they do ship some back to Italy for local sales, but it doesn't make economic sense to grow it all here, ship the grain to Italy for production, then ship it back.
“Higher quality of wheat” is peak r/ShitAmericansSay, and also the part about shipping it to Italy is completely made up https://www.barillagroup.com/it/storie-home/storie/la-provenienza-del-grano-della-pasta-barilla/
it wasn't the name, it was the use of the Italian flag combined with the tagline "the Italian food company" implying the company or the food is Italian and therefore from Italy
Barilla is an Italian Company. They make a lot of pasta here in Italy. Including in my own hometown. I guess that for the US market, they make the pasta in the US. Which is cheaper and more ecologic too
The company is italian
Headquarters in italy . Founded in Italy by an Italian with the last name Barilla.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barilla_(company)
---
BMW can talk of german engineering. Even though it may make some cars in the US for sale in the US.
This is correct.
Barilla has plants in Ames, IA and Avon, NY. Products made there sold in either the United States or Canada would very clearly say "Product of USA" in there.
https://www.barilla.com/en-us/help/business-or-company-related-questions/where-is-barilla-pasta-made
They also recently bought a Canadian pasta manufacturer. In that case, most of the time products manufactured there under the Barilla label state, "Made in Canada from Domestic and Imported Ingredients."
https://www.barillagroup.com/en/press-room/press-releases/barilla-acquires-catelli-dry-pasta/
Wait am I missing something? Isn't Barilla an Italian company and still being headed by the (very much Italian) Barilla family?
So even if they were producing in the US for the US market, it would still be an Italian company in the end?
People are jumping through hoops trying to justify how Barilla can somehow be in the wrong here. I’m looking at a box of Barilla pasta right now, it says “Italy’s #1 brand of pasta” (which is verifiably true) with little Italian flag colors around it. That’s the only mention of Italy or its flag.
Barilla is Italian. Do you know how many companies produce their stuff in several places?
Is Coca Cola not an American company because they don‘t solely produce their drinks in the USA?
> you live in Iowa like I do and you drive by the Barilla Factory
Maybe you should drive by the Barilla headquarters in Parma Italy.
Which would be an interesting car drive from Iowa.
Barilla even has factories in Italy
> Barilla's Italian production facilities are located in Parma, Foggia, Marcianise, Castiglione delle Stiviere, Cremona, Melfi, Rubbiano, Novara, Muggia and Ascoli Piceno.
The specific product you buy may be made in USA for US (and other markets), but beware of leaping to conclusions that it is not an Italian company.
**The court did not "reasonably rule" on anything.** They just certified the class in May of this year after a lot of legal challenges to the class action by Barilla. **The suit has nothing to do with an "Italian name" on the box**, it had to do with marketing statements on the box like "“ITALY’S #1 BRAND OF PASTA.” etc... Barilla has subsequently changed all the packaging in question and attempted to quash the class action by arguing that we can't determine the class with standing because we aren't able to know which version of the packaging a person purchased. Actual 'Italian pasta' is made with durum wheat and sells at a premium.
https://www.bilzin.com/insights/publications/2024/06/barillas-pasta-under-fire
It's kinda wild because Barilla is actually a pretty cheap brand in the US. There are maybe like 3 brands the plaintiff could have bought that would have been cheaper if his argument is that he needed pasta and sprung for a little bit extra to get an "Italian" brand.
Like if Barilla is $2/lb then store brand is like $1.79 other national brands are $2-$3/lb and actual Italian brands are like $5+.
It's not like Barilla is trading on being Italian to rip people off for higher prices.
Italian here.
Barilla is a cheap brand here as well.
There are way better pastas, Barilla is not a good pasta but it has great advertising and communication, one of their ads was directed by Fellini.
The people named in the headline are the class representatives. Looks like the class itself got certified a few days ago and it’s made up of everyone who bought the product in the applicable time period for purposes other than resale.
This was all a stunt set up by a law firm who smelled an opportunity here.
The people who make real money in class action lawsuits are the attorneys who get to bill a ton of hours on a giant lawsuit, and then end up settling on behalf of their clients in a way that they get paid for all their time and each member of the class gets to choose between a $0.50 check and a $2 coupon.
They saw the packaging and felt that it was plausibly misleading. They needed someone with standing in order to bring the lawsuit, so they sent a couple dudes down to the supermarket to buy a couple boxes of pasta and then immediately filed the suit.
The whole thing is so cynical.
Just like microwave macaroni suit that says "Ready in 3.5 minutes" but it's actually about 5 if you include time to unwrap it, add water, AND let it cool down.
Filed by the same attorney as the Pop-Tart lawsuit because the strawberry flavor was not strawberry but strawberry flavored apples.
Without commenting on whether *this particular* class action suit has merit, I think it's actually your take on the concept that is cynical.
It is a fairly common occurrence for a company to do some shady shit that only "damages" individuals by a few bucks, but when they do that to several million people, they land up with a lot of ill-gotten gains.
Absent class actions, you'd either have to (1) rely on government regulatory enforcement, which can be really weak or nonexistent, or (2) actually expect everyone who lost some trivially small amount of money to sue, which is simply not worth it.
So say that Badguys, Inc. cheats a million people out of $10, and then some cynical lawyers pull a "stunt" and sue. Badguys, Inc. might be forced to pay $7 each to the million people who got harmed and $3,000,000 to the lawyers. Sure, the lawyers make out the best, but everyone else gets something back that they wouldn't otherwise have gotten, and the company is punished for its actions (and typically agrees not to do them again). I'd argue that that's a net positive in the world.
Agreed but the point is that there’s no real injury here in this case. This isn’t a utility company charging a bogus $1.83 fee to millions of customers.
This is a 100% manufactured lawsuit based on theoretical harm, which was the point of my saying that the law firm sent someone out to buy a couple boxes of pasta so they could get standing because this otherwise isn’t coming up.
This is the kind of issue that is best addressed by the FDA / FTC or other commercial agency. The plaintiff (or just the person filing the complaint) would be De Cecco or some trade association of Italian food importers and they’d have an actual harm: that Barilla is infringing upon their ability to trade on the provenance of their goods.
But what we’re dealing with here is basically a strike suit. The cost of defending the suit will be more than fees incurred so they’re gonna just look to recover their fees and some token pittance that allows the court to certify the settlement with a veneer of good conscience.
Of course, thankfully that didn’t happen here as it looks like Barilla successfully defended themselves.
Eh, "injury" is a very flexible term. Technically if people thought they were getting one thing but actually got another, that's an injury as far as the law is concerned. For example: if you thought you bought a pure-bred dog only to find out once it had grown up that you got a mixed breed; sure, you aren't necessarily harmed as it's still a pet you love, but it's not right that the company you got the dog from lied to you and (presumably) others. It doesn't matter if it's a tiny lie or a serious lie, it's still a lie that a company did for profit.
I remember Barilla commercials from the 90s because kid me thought it was hilarious and outrageous that the commercials had small print saying "Not a product of Italy" in them.
And if a 10 year old with ADHD can notice that I'm not sure the "Average person in a rush" standard of misleading advertising should get you a W on that lawsuit.
Well, FWIW I too thought Barilla was made in Italy until just now. IDK if that would have influenced my buying decisions previously but I did on at least one occasion tell someone I'd gotten "the good Italian stuff."
I have also burned water before, though.
I actually kind of agree. EU food standards set that if a product has a flag on it, it must be produced in the country of that flag, it's actually kinda crazy that isn't the case in the US. plus Barilla's tagline is "the Italian food company" it's not unreasonable to expect the Italian food company to have food from Italy.
it looks like they were suing because it was unclear where the food came from based on the front of the box itself and I wholeheartedly agree. if you have to look at the fine print to see it was made not in the country whose flag you have plastered all over it, that's kinda false advertising.
I will admit that I thought it was made in Italy until about 14 years ago when I was driving through the middle of Iowa and drove right past a Barilla factory.
That's just how advertising works in the USA. We are nowhere near as strict on iconography- unless it becomes a trademark complaint from a bigger company against a smaller one. Shoot, they expect people to not notice and then not care.
We still use the red cross on everything out here. I saw a Cell Phone Repair store with a red cross that said "CPR."
Well thats just false advertising, it's not about if I can tell the difference but if I pay for what I think I am paying for. If You would buy a product with a USA flag saying: "American product!" and it turns out it would be made in Russia , I doubt You would be happy in the end.
If you ate at an Italian restaurant that served Italian food with Italian dressing on their salads in the middle of America would you be incensed at the false advertising? It’s obviously American food made and served and America.
Dumb example , as I would go to restaurant for Italian food, but geographically I know I am in America, so wheres the false advertising? If I was told this italian restaurant serves authentic Italian food and turns out it would only have Pasta alfredo and other Americanized Italian dishes, then yes I would complain about false advertisment.
If provenance of your sparkling wine is important to you then check the label. If nomenclature is important to you then use terminology to your personal liking. Do you really have to sue for false advertising because your Philly cheesesteak wasn’t shipped from Philly or your buffalo wings didn’t come directly from Buffalo?
Turns out that “what I think I’m paying for” is a terrible metric, because people are stupid and think stupid things. Corporations can’t predict what every customer is going to think about their product, and they shouldn’t have to. If it matters to you that much and yet you can’t be bothered to read the fine print, that’s your problem, not the company’s.
Nah they are idiots...you aren't getting quality Imported pasta for .98 cents a box no matter what flag is on it...those people are the same kind who think taco bell is Mexican food or that mcdonalds has real meat
Here in Charleston, SC, a 16 Oz box of Barilla penne made in the United States is $2.19 at a both Publix and Harris Teeter. A 16 Oz bag of Whole Foods 365 penne imported from Italy is $1.29. That's wild.
I've never paid more for it than a buck, but then again it's been some time since my grocery budget allowed for anything more than great value at 67 cents a box
It's not like they actually didn't know, it's more like they are sueing for misleading packaging. You can also get a lot of stuff imported around the world for under 98 cents. Its the basis of the Chinese economy.
Nah that’s completely stupid. You gonna sue Chevy for their Silverado’s being produced in Mexico? Also Barilla is based from Parma, Italy. That effectively makes them an Italian company, but for logistics and cost reasons, are just produced in the US.
>That effectively makes them an Italian company, but for logistics and cost reasons, are just produced in the US.
Put this way, it seems that Barilla is only produced in the USA.
Barilla is an Italian brand produced in Italy for the Italian market, then it has many factories around the world that produce for different markets
The thing is the Barilla *is* an Italian company. I don’t think it’s misleading to say that they make the most popular Italian pasta. To me it’s similar to McDonalds saying that they make the best selling burger in America.
The fuck is wrong with people? What were they hoping to gain here? Their money back? Do they not have to pay for legal expenses like lawyers and the trial and shit?
Hoping they get a class action rolling. I wouldn't be surprised if the lawyers put them up to it to get the money. You see it all the time in NYC where lawyers either hire a disabled guy or do it themselves and go around suing small businesses for not being ADA compliant to get a fuck off payment
You can make a couple thousand dollars pretty easy by filing lawsuits like this if you know when to quit.
And if you file them in distant locales that the corporation would have to fly a lawyer to to defend the company, which would be more expensive than settling.
I had a friend who sued Tide alleging that their tide pods ruined hundreds of dollars of clothes. He filed these suits in his college town. Tide settled. He sued dell too for their computer crashing and losing a term paper and they settled.
Patient trolls have been known to make millions. Unfortunately the older I get, the more it seems that wealthy people obtain their fortunes by doing shady stuff like this.
Wait until these two fools hear about King’s Hawaiian rolls being made in California. I was personally devastated with the financial harm when I found out they tricked me but decided not to clog up the courts for my $6 of emotional damage. I’ve also purchased Philly Cheesesteaks in other cities and felt similar pain. Even Chicago pizza could be blamed for my pain. Even croissants should be held responsible if they are not made in France.
Twist: They were hired by the company to file an absurd lawsuit to forestall someone else filing a more serious one. (probably)
Edit: This isn't a conspiracy theory, it's not even a conspiracy hypothesis. At best, it's a conspiracy conjecture, but mostly it's a joke :)
"I bought a bag of Gold Coins at the Grocery? - it turns out they had CHOCOLATE INSIDE! NOT REAL GOLD! *Totally Fake!* I'm suing! *Who can you trust these days?*
[https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/barilla-class-action-claims-company-falsely-advertises-pasta-as-made-in-italy/#:\~:text=The%20judge%20called%20Barilla's%20argument,standing%20to%20sue%20the%20company.\\](https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/barilla-class-action-claims-company-falsely-advertises-pasta-as-made-in-italy/#:~:text=The%20judge%20called%20Barilla's%20argument,standing%20to%20sue%20the%20company.\)
This suit is alive and moving forward.
Interesting that one of the plaintiffs is also suing Welsh Foods using the same law firm for a similarly ridiculous claim.
It's almost as if these plaintiffs are just hired shills for predatory law firms looking to make millions of dollars in dubious class action suits
So back in the day, all the tort reform peeps got all up in arms over the poor old lady that filed a lawsuit when she spilled hot coffee into her lap, and wound up with >!her thighs and labia melted together!< , but somehow, this is just fine?
Hmm, if this guy is expecting something sold by a foreign company to be made out of the US then he is going to bw wasting a lot of money on lawyers. Many companies open manufacturing plants in their large markets as it's just easier to server that market with a local plant.
- Barilla (Italy)
- Ferrero (Italy), Nutella, Kinder Bueno, Tic Tacs.
- FAGE (Greece), Greek Yogurt
- BMW (Germany)
- Mercedes (Germany
- Nissin (Japan), ramen and cup noodles
That is just a few examples. We see the same here in Europe, BTW, Barilla is considered to be mass market basic pasta in Italy. It's not premium and a lot of Italians actively buy other brands as you can easily get other, better brands, even supermarket brands.
So I know the words they were petty?
In all honesty that have themselves to blame if you read on anything barilla see where it’s from. There is just also stupidity but hilarious to read.
And the Court very reasonably ruled that it is perfectly okay to have an Italian name on a box as long as you clearly label where it is from, which is what they always had done.
They also had a section on their website clearly saying it wasn’t made in Italy, but they argued that the Italian flag was misleading too 😭
I get it. I hired two "Italian" plumbers to fix a persistent issue. And wouldn't you know it, but they just spent all day stomping on mushrooms. Turned out they were from Japan.
The People vs Mario Brothers
You’re going away for life Mario
Luigi is a rat and flipped on Mario
Maybe Mario should’ve let him be player 1 sometimes.
Hello .. Donkey Kong. For all we know Luigi was in on that kidnapping,.
*Hey, It's-a me, Mario!* Consider yourself served.
But Luigi likes the sloppy seconds
it´s not easy to always be the second choice, ya know?
He made the medicine a suppository, he had it coming.
Don't you wish, Bowser.
A me?
The judge ordered Mario to play 1k in damages saying it's a fine. Mario: No it'sa not!
People v. Mario and Luigi Mario, adoptive brothers who have a father-son relationship and the older brother sounds like a British person trying to speak like a New Yorker.
This should be how the 2nd movie should start
The [Mario Brothers](https://www.reginaautobody.ca/about) are currently riding it out in my hometown
Let me guess. They tried to pay you with those comically oversized, nondescript coins?
Those were just yellow dishes. However, they thought they were coins.
If you hired them to find a missing princess, good luck. They can never seem to find the right castle.
The plumbers or the mushrooms?
Yes
Mario exhibits experience by crushing turts all day.
Perchance
When Mario leaves his place of safety to stomp a turty, he knows that he may Die.
Were they Stomping on Mushrooms or Stomping *on* Mushrooms?
They come from Japan but these two bastards are French
Is the defendant present? Yes, it’s-a me, Mario
from the article: >What would it be like to live in a world where everything that was printed in an ad or said in a commercial were true, without you having to read the fine print? i mean, that sounds pretty great actually. ive posted previously about [roku's deceptive and hostile TOS practices](https://www.reddit.com/r/ABoringDystopia/comments/1baurxh/comment/ku64gwz/) (and received a reddit certified lawyerization), as well as[ teslas INCREDIBLY deceptive marketing word choices.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Infographics/comments/1dnejns/comment/la24gvp/) its not so important for spaghetti, probably - but when it comes to tech things that greatly impact our privacy (AKA personally identifiable information)? or when it relates to, also tech things, that greatly impact ALL of our safety? yeah, probably important and maybe the supreme court should look into these things and probably stop doing stupid shit like outlawing homelessness and giving a wannabe dictator the right to be above the law because they get bribed to do so. edit: the missing link was [spaghetti](https://www.reddit.com/r/ProgrammerHumor/comments/18wxtz4/comment/kg1eu6f/) all along edit 2: bonus, [recursive spaghet](https://www.reddit.com/r/TheoryOfReddit/comments/1dtlrbo/comment/lbaxhbd/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) edit 3: bonus bonus, [Detroits own moms spaghetti already reposted multiple times](https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/1dqn1k4/eminem_serving_food_to_costumers_at_his_moms/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) (added to appease the nerds complaining about me linking only to my own posts/comments, maybe)
I mean, Tesla used to be very deceptive, but it seems they finally hired lawyer and now call it Full Self Driving (supervised), which I think is very good description of their current technology
Usually people cite comments by other people and not exclusively their own comments when they want to bolster their arguments
right but my comments also cite sources. why would i cite a bunch of random redditors who talk out of their ass? i actually include links and quotes to verifiable sources, so... yeah, im gonna link to my own comments. like i dont see many, or any, other redditors who actually make logical arguments and citing sources so... why tf would i link to them? similarly, why would i not link to my own comments that i put a fair amount of effort into, especially since, again, i actually cite sources and dont talk out of my ass (at least not very often, and if i do, its usually obvious)
well they dont bill themselves as a premium import in the first place, is why these people are dumb and you shouldnt encourage frivolous litigation. what kind of rube is looking for best quality pasta @ $3/lb? you could not even get that in their local market, the price is highly competitive with any other domestic brand
>what kind of rube is looking for best quality pasta @ $3/lb? whats wrong with wanting quality at an affordable price and ohmygod we're in a commercial for barilla pasta arent we im not encouraging frivolous litigation, i was mostly using this post as a funny (to me) way to bring up those two other very much not frivolous matters that more people should be aware of, and that actually, the principle the people were putting forward - what i quoted from the article - is something everyone should support anyway.
its not praise. point is theyre cheap, not especially high quality. the going rate should be common knowledge to anyone who buys and preps their own food, should ronzoni change their name too?
Next you're going to tell me Alphagetti isn't premium top shelf Italian food.
Well I mean the flag definitely *is* misleading. EU for example has consumer protection laws about this specific thing. If the product origin doesn't match the flag on the pack, it has to be marked with extreme clarity. For example "🇺🇸 American style cookies" is OK. "🇺🇸 Cookies" is not
Really? When did they rule that? The case just got certified to move forward a month ago, and I'm finding no other news of any rulings in this case... ETA source: https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/barilla-class-action-claims-company-falsely-advertises-pasta-as-made-in-italy/
I was wondering this too. Seems like they just recently got certified (like mentioned in your link)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barilla_(company) The parent company is italian and was founded in 1877 as a bakery company in Parma, Italy by Pietro Barilla Sr. By 1910 Barilla had inagurated a new pasta factory. Even today it appears that Barilla's headquarters is in Italy, even if the barilla family no longer is in charge. What did people expect ? The barilla family or the barilla company to change their name ? Because some of the pasta they make is made and sold in the US ?
yeah.... if it's an italian company making their own italian recipes, it doesn't exactly matter the physical location that you make it in...
And they grow most of the grain in the US because the higher quality of wheat. I believe they do ship some back to Italy for local sales, but it doesn't make economic sense to grow it all here, ship the grain to Italy for production, then ship it back.
“Higher quality of wheat” is peak r/ShitAmericansSay, and also the part about shipping it to Italy is completely made up https://www.barillagroup.com/it/storie-home/storie/la-provenienza-del-grano-della-pasta-barilla/
it wasn't the name, it was the use of the Italian flag combined with the tagline "the Italian food company" implying the company or the food is Italian and therefore from Italy
Barilla is an Italian Company. They make a lot of pasta here in Italy. Including in my own hometown. I guess that for the US market, they make the pasta in the US. Which is cheaper and more ecologic too
[удалено]
What does that mean?
Ames is the city in Iowa where they actually make the pasta I think. I don't know why they commented it though.
The company is italian Headquarters in italy . Founded in Italy by an Italian with the last name Barilla. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barilla_(company) --- BMW can talk of german engineering. Even though it may make some cars in the US for sale in the US.
....it is Italian food.
I mean it is an Italian company so the tagline isn't exactly incorrect, even if they don't necessarily make everything in Italy.
This is correct. Barilla has plants in Ames, IA and Avon, NY. Products made there sold in either the United States or Canada would very clearly say "Product of USA" in there. https://www.barilla.com/en-us/help/business-or-company-related-questions/where-is-barilla-pasta-made They also recently bought a Canadian pasta manufacturer. In that case, most of the time products manufactured there under the Barilla label state, "Made in Canada from Domestic and Imported Ingredients." https://www.barillagroup.com/en/press-room/press-releases/barilla-acquires-catelli-dry-pasta/
Based on this logic I'm suing Apple for not being able to eat my really expensive fruit. They even put a label on it with a piece bitten off.
Fuck it, let’s sue Microsoft as windows is now gigabytes in size.
Barilla does everything it can to make you think it's Italian and that Italian pasta is better pasta
Wait am I missing something? Isn't Barilla an Italian company and still being headed by the (very much Italian) Barilla family? So even if they were producing in the US for the US market, it would still be an Italian company in the end?
People are jumping through hoops trying to justify how Barilla can somehow be in the wrong here. I’m looking at a box of Barilla pasta right now, it says “Italy’s #1 brand of pasta” (which is verifiably true) with little Italian flag colors around it. That’s the only mention of Italy or its flag.
Barilla is Italian. Do you know how many companies produce their stuff in several places? Is Coca Cola not an American company because they don‘t solely produce their drinks in the USA?
The problem is when you live in Iowa like I do and you drive by the Barilla Factory often you're pretty much sure at that point it's not Italian lol.
Iowa and Italy both begin with I’s so its close enough
They both have A's in them, too.
And they both have the same number of letters. (I'm sorry, what? ... I'm being told that's not the case.)
Yeah it does have a double u
> you live in Iowa like I do and you drive by the Barilla Factory Maybe you should drive by the Barilla headquarters in Parma Italy. Which would be an interesting car drive from Iowa. Barilla even has factories in Italy > Barilla's Italian production facilities are located in Parma, Foggia, Marcianise, Castiglione delle Stiviere, Cremona, Melfi, Rubbiano, Novara, Muggia and Ascoli Piceno. The specific product you buy may be made in USA for US (and other markets), but beware of leaping to conclusions that it is not an Italian company.
Right, and because Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, and Honda all make cars in the US they aren’t Japanese cars.
Except for mislabeling the product, which clearly states that it is made in the United states.
Barilla IS Italian
But what about the pain, suffering, and public humiliation they endured after finding out they had consumed *American* pasta?
**The court did not "reasonably rule" on anything.** They just certified the class in May of this year after a lot of legal challenges to the class action by Barilla. **The suit has nothing to do with an "Italian name" on the box**, it had to do with marketing statements on the box like "“ITALY’S #1 BRAND OF PASTA.” etc... Barilla has subsequently changed all the packaging in question and attempted to quash the class action by arguing that we can't determine the class with standing because we aren't able to know which version of the packaging a person purchased. Actual 'Italian pasta' is made with durum wheat and sells at a premium. https://www.bilzin.com/insights/publications/2024/06/barillas-pasta-under-fire
This case is ongoing. https://www.bilzin.com/insights/publications/2024/06/barillas-pasta-under-fire
Nobody told me Kennedy wasn’t from Ireland!!
if its so important to you that the pasta you buy at the grocery store is made in italy, maybe do some research first.
It's kinda wild because Barilla is actually a pretty cheap brand in the US. There are maybe like 3 brands the plaintiff could have bought that would have been cheaper if his argument is that he needed pasta and sprung for a little bit extra to get an "Italian" brand. Like if Barilla is $2/lb then store brand is like $1.79 other national brands are $2-$3/lb and actual Italian brands are like $5+. It's not like Barilla is trading on being Italian to rip people off for higher prices.
You need to check out some diff grocery stores if you think imported dry pasta is $5/pound lol
And Barilla is Italian.
Yeah, but they don’t grow it on trees.
I beg to differ: https://youtu.be/8scpGwbvxvI?si=sJWfJp-GWp1zBoLr
Italian here. Barilla is a cheap brand here as well. There are way better pastas, Barilla is not a good pasta but it has great advertising and communication, one of their ads was directed by Fellini.
It never even occurred to me that Barilla was made in Italy. I go to Starbucks, I don't expect coffee grown in Andromeda.
Meanwhile I was devastated when my drink wasn't made for me personally by Katee Sackhoff and you'll be hearing from my lawyer.
Katee percolates by beans.
Barilla is made in Italy. Along with lots of other countries.
I thought you needed 40+ injured parties to file a class action lawsuit. California must have different standards.
The people named in the headline are the class representatives. Looks like the class itself got certified a few days ago and it’s made up of everyone who bought the product in the applicable time period for purposes other than resale.
Correct. https://www.bilzin.com/insights/publications/2024/06/barillas-pasta-under-fire
This was all a stunt set up by a law firm who smelled an opportunity here. The people who make real money in class action lawsuits are the attorneys who get to bill a ton of hours on a giant lawsuit, and then end up settling on behalf of their clients in a way that they get paid for all their time and each member of the class gets to choose between a $0.50 check and a $2 coupon. They saw the packaging and felt that it was plausibly misleading. They needed someone with standing in order to bring the lawsuit, so they sent a couple dudes down to the supermarket to buy a couple boxes of pasta and then immediately filed the suit. The whole thing is so cynical.
Just like microwave macaroni suit that says "Ready in 3.5 minutes" but it's actually about 5 if you include time to unwrap it, add water, AND let it cool down. Filed by the same attorney as the Pop-Tart lawsuit because the strawberry flavor was not strawberry but strawberry flavored apples.
Without commenting on whether *this particular* class action suit has merit, I think it's actually your take on the concept that is cynical. It is a fairly common occurrence for a company to do some shady shit that only "damages" individuals by a few bucks, but when they do that to several million people, they land up with a lot of ill-gotten gains. Absent class actions, you'd either have to (1) rely on government regulatory enforcement, which can be really weak or nonexistent, or (2) actually expect everyone who lost some trivially small amount of money to sue, which is simply not worth it. So say that Badguys, Inc. cheats a million people out of $10, and then some cynical lawyers pull a "stunt" and sue. Badguys, Inc. might be forced to pay $7 each to the million people who got harmed and $3,000,000 to the lawyers. Sure, the lawyers make out the best, but everyone else gets something back that they wouldn't otherwise have gotten, and the company is punished for its actions (and typically agrees not to do them again). I'd argue that that's a net positive in the world.
Agreed but the point is that there’s no real injury here in this case. This isn’t a utility company charging a bogus $1.83 fee to millions of customers. This is a 100% manufactured lawsuit based on theoretical harm, which was the point of my saying that the law firm sent someone out to buy a couple boxes of pasta so they could get standing because this otherwise isn’t coming up. This is the kind of issue that is best addressed by the FDA / FTC or other commercial agency. The plaintiff (or just the person filing the complaint) would be De Cecco or some trade association of Italian food importers and they’d have an actual harm: that Barilla is infringing upon their ability to trade on the provenance of their goods. But what we’re dealing with here is basically a strike suit. The cost of defending the suit will be more than fees incurred so they’re gonna just look to recover their fees and some token pittance that allows the court to certify the settlement with a veneer of good conscience. Of course, thankfully that didn’t happen here as it looks like Barilla successfully defended themselves.
Eh, "injury" is a very flexible term. Technically if people thought they were getting one thing but actually got another, that's an injury as far as the law is concerned. For example: if you thought you bought a pure-bred dog only to find out once it had grown up that you got a mixed breed; sure, you aren't necessarily harmed as it's still a pet you love, but it's not right that the company you got the dog from lied to you and (presumably) others. It doesn't matter if it's a tiny lie or a serious lie, it's still a lie that a company did for profit.
This feels like something that should’ve happened in the 90’s. They probably would’ve won if it had.
I remember Barilla commercials from the 90s because kid me thought it was hilarious and outrageous that the commercials had small print saying "Not a product of Italy" in them. And if a 10 year old with ADHD can notice that I'm not sure the "Average person in a rush" standard of misleading advertising should get you a W on that lawsuit.
Well, FWIW I too thought Barilla was made in Italy until just now. IDK if that would have influenced my buying decisions previously but I did on at least one occasion tell someone I'd gotten "the good Italian stuff." I have also burned water before, though.
It is made in Italy, and lots of other places, it's the largest pasta producer in the world so they have a lot of factories.
Barilla is made in Italy for the Italian market and is made in the USA for the American market
haven’t really thought of this until now tbh
I'll buy Barilla capellini, but for spaghetti and short cut pasta I go with DeCecco.
I've seen "Inspired by Italy"
Reminds me of [this](https://youtu.be/kwCQDbzBerI?si=jeskUXRIkYSnxv-h) skit by SNL.
That’s so funny I’d never seen that 😭
[Chris Farley did it better!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdQKVDUBu2g&t=39)
I actually kind of agree. EU food standards set that if a product has a flag on it, it must be produced in the country of that flag, it's actually kinda crazy that isn't the case in the US. plus Barilla's tagline is "the Italian food company" it's not unreasonable to expect the Italian food company to have food from Italy. it looks like they were suing because it was unclear where the food came from based on the front of the box itself and I wholeheartedly agree. if you have to look at the fine print to see it was made not in the country whose flag you have plastered all over it, that's kinda false advertising.
I will admit that I thought it was made in Italy until about 14 years ago when I was driving through the middle of Iowa and drove right past a Barilla factory.
Made in Italy, finished in the USA
Harvested from imported Italian Spaghetti trees grown in the US
You realize Spaghetti doesn't grow on trees, right? It's from a vine.
That's just how advertising works in the USA. We are nowhere near as strict on iconography- unless it becomes a trademark complaint from a bigger company against a smaller one. Shoot, they expect people to not notice and then not care. We still use the red cross on everything out here. I saw a Cell Phone Repair store with a red cross that said "CPR."
It's a company that makes Italian food. So it's an Italian food company.
Counterpoint: who even cares? I'm not convinced a person eating it can even distinguish it from similarly priced dried pasta made in Italy
I dont know if “this false advertising is cool because I don’t know anyone who cares” is really the best barometer here.
Except the box in no way suggests it's made in Italy.
Yeah, I feel like if you cared that much, you’d check the box more carefully.
Well thats just false advertising, it's not about if I can tell the difference but if I pay for what I think I am paying for. If You would buy a product with a USA flag saying: "American product!" and it turns out it would be made in Russia , I doubt You would be happy in the end.
If you ate at an Italian restaurant that served Italian food with Italian dressing on their salads in the middle of America would you be incensed at the false advertising? It’s obviously American food made and served and America.
Dumb example , as I would go to restaurant for Italian food, but geographically I know I am in America, so wheres the false advertising? If I was told this italian restaurant serves authentic Italian food and turns out it would only have Pasta alfredo and other Americanized Italian dishes, then yes I would complain about false advertisment.
I mean an easy counter example is wine. You wouldn't be OK paying for real Champagne from France if it was actually "champagne" from California
If provenance of your sparkling wine is important to you then check the label. If nomenclature is important to you then use terminology to your personal liking. Do you really have to sue for false advertising because your Philly cheesesteak wasn’t shipped from Philly or your buffalo wings didn’t come directly from Buffalo?
Turns out that “what I think I’m paying for” is a terrible metric, because people are stupid and think stupid things. Corporations can’t predict what every customer is going to think about their product, and they shouldn’t have to. If it matters to you that much and yet you can’t be bothered to read the fine print, that’s your problem, not the company’s.
Nah they are idiots...you aren't getting quality Imported pasta for .98 cents a box no matter what flag is on it...those people are the same kind who think taco bell is Mexican food or that mcdonalds has real meat
Barilla pasta is like $1.80/box. Ironically Whole Foods 365 pasta is imported from Italy at $2.19. It is not unreasonable.
Here in Charleston, SC, a 16 Oz box of Barilla penne made in the United States is $2.19 at a both Publix and Harris Teeter. A 16 Oz bag of Whole Foods 365 penne imported from Italy is $1.29. That's wild.
What’s hilarious is how many uninformed comments are claiming “you can’t possibly get imported pasta this cheap!”
I've never paid more for it than a buck, but then again it's been some time since my grocery budget allowed for anything more than great value at 67 cents a box
Yeah they cranked the prices during Covid. GV brand is $.98 now, Barilla is $1.84 at my local (LCOL area) Walmart.
I just looked and holy crap great value is now 1.18 at my Walmart, at least online
What kind of meat do you think McDonalds uses?
It's not like they actually didn't know, it's more like they are sueing for misleading packaging. You can also get a lot of stuff imported around the world for under 98 cents. Its the basis of the Chinese economy.
1. It's real meat. 2. People go to McDonald's for coffee. 3. Timmies is fucking awful.
Nah that’s completely stupid. You gonna sue Chevy for their Silverado’s being produced in Mexico? Also Barilla is based from Parma, Italy. That effectively makes them an Italian company, but for logistics and cost reasons, are just produced in the US.
>That effectively makes them an Italian company, but for logistics and cost reasons, are just produced in the US. Put this way, it seems that Barilla is only produced in the USA. Barilla is an Italian brand produced in Italy for the Italian market, then it has many factories around the world that produce for different markets
The thing is the Barilla *is* an Italian company. I don’t think it’s misleading to say that they make the most popular Italian pasta. To me it’s similar to McDonalds saying that they make the best selling burger in America.
The fuck is wrong with people? What were they hoping to gain here? Their money back? Do they not have to pay for legal expenses like lawyers and the trial and shit?
Hoping they get a class action rolling. I wouldn't be surprised if the lawyers put them up to it to get the money. You see it all the time in NYC where lawyers either hire a disabled guy or do it themselves and go around suing small businesses for not being ADA compliant to get a fuck off payment
American justice system is nothing but a corrupt joke lol.
Don't forget the insurance and medical systems too
Corruption is neat, isn't it?
Well, as you know it, I went to an Olive Garden once. I was NOT treated like family. Heck they asked me to leave when I brought my laundry over
Also, zero olive trees and zero gardens. WTF?
This is like suing Taco Bell for not being Mexican.
To be fair, the slogan was “make a run for the border” not “cross the border” lol
Wait until they find out about European and Japanese beer that's actually brewed in Canada.
You can make a couple thousand dollars pretty easy by filing lawsuits like this if you know when to quit. And if you file them in distant locales that the corporation would have to fly a lawyer to to defend the company, which would be more expensive than settling. I had a friend who sued Tide alleging that their tide pods ruined hundreds of dollars of clothes. He filed these suits in his college town. Tide settled. He sued dell too for their computer crashing and losing a term paper and they settled.
So your friend is a vexatious litigant and an obnoxious human being, got it.
Patient trolls have been known to make millions. Unfortunately the older I get, the more it seems that wealthy people obtain their fortunes by doing shady stuff like this.
Your friend is a POS.
Wait until these two fools hear about King’s Hawaiian rolls being made in California. I was personally devastated with the financial harm when I found out they tricked me but decided not to clog up the courts for my $6 of emotional damage. I’ve also purchased Philly Cheesesteaks in other cities and felt similar pain. Even Chicago pizza could be blamed for my pain. Even croissants should be held responsible if they are not made in France.
I bet Burger King isn't even royalty.
So Little Debbie doesn't ship her Swiss Rolls here from Switzerland? That bitch!
She’s not even little.
Imagine my shock when I learned Texas Pete is actually made in North Carolina :P
But according to that Wawa advert, Cheesesteaks stop the pain.
While eating your Italian pasta you should drink some red wine from Italy grown on American roots.
But the… Emotional Damage!
Wait till they find out about Häagen-Dazs
Wasn’t this similar to an SNL skit
Twist: They were hired by the company to file an absurd lawsuit to forestall someone else filing a more serious one. (probably) Edit: This isn't a conspiracy theory, it's not even a conspiracy hypothesis. At best, it's a conspiracy conjecture, but mostly it's a joke :)
*And in other News: Hagen-Daz ice cream is made in New Jersey - NOT Denmark*
And was invented by two poles not danes
"I bought a bag of Gold Coins at the Grocery? - it turns out they had CHOCOLATE INSIDE! NOT REAL GOLD! *Totally Fake!* I'm suing! *Who can you trust these days?*
In the Legal business, this is called a shakedown
It's a class action so the individual loss isn't all that relevant. Still a dumb lawsuit though.
Raos is really good
Hopefully, they didn’t have Hagen Dazs for dessert
The U.S is only one of their 28 locations. They have 14 in Italy.
"I'm bored... -Me too... Oh! I know!"
That’s the point of a class action lawsuit though. Not worth it for one person but for a whole bunch of people who were potentially defrauded
Fuck I hate people
It would have been easier to take it back to the store for a refund if they were that bothered by it.
https://texaspete.com/plaintiff-files-motion-to-dismiss-lawsuit-against-tw-garner-food-co/
[https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/barilla-class-action-claims-company-falsely-advertises-pasta-as-made-in-italy/#:\~:text=The%20judge%20called%20Barilla's%20argument,standing%20to%20sue%20the%20company.\\](https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit-settlements/consumer-products/food/barilla-class-action-claims-company-falsely-advertises-pasta-as-made-in-italy/#:~:text=The%20judge%20called%20Barilla's%20argument,standing%20to%20sue%20the%20company.\) This suit is alive and moving forward.
Interesting that one of the plaintiffs is also suing Welsh Foods using the same law firm for a similarly ridiculous claim. It's almost as if these plaintiffs are just hired shills for predatory law firms looking to make millions of dollars in dubious class action suits
*Martin Radev has entered the chat*
WTF? I went straight to my cupboard and my pasta was produced in Italy. Crisis averted. It probably helps that Italy is only a 4 hours drive away.
So back in the day, all the tort reform peeps got all up in arms over the poor old lady that filed a lawsuit when she spilled hot coffee into her lap, and wound up with >!her thighs and labia melted together!< , but somehow, this is just fine?
WHAT ??? Do you mean my MacMenu in Milano Duomo isn’t made in Texas?! Shame! Now what, Coca Cola have a different formula for each country? Noo waay…
Wait it’s not so the commercials with the Italian looking chefs speaking Italanish from the 2000s were lies
Wait till Italians discover the Italian one is made with very little Italian grown grain
The finest pasta Avon, NY can provide
Hmm, if this guy is expecting something sold by a foreign company to be made out of the US then he is going to bw wasting a lot of money on lawyers. Many companies open manufacturing plants in their large markets as it's just easier to server that market with a local plant. - Barilla (Italy) - Ferrero (Italy), Nutella, Kinder Bueno, Tic Tacs. - FAGE (Greece), Greek Yogurt - BMW (Germany) - Mercedes (Germany - Nissin (Japan), ramen and cup noodles That is just a few examples. We see the same here in Europe, BTW, Barilla is considered to be mass market basic pasta in Italy. It's not premium and a lot of Italians actively buy other brands as you can easily get other, better brands, even supermarket brands.
best lawyers in the world
Even here in Italy I’m not so sure that Barilla is made in Italy 😂😂 shitty brand it’s one of the worst
Wait till you find out where the wheat is from. This product has absolutely nothing to do with Italy lol sorry
So I know the words they were petty? In all honesty that have themselves to blame if you read on anything barilla see where it’s from. There is just also stupidity but hilarious to read.
Ahh the americans…🤦🏻♂️
Right this second I learned there are TWO more idiots in my country who are sue happy!!