Fans of Fireball Cinnamon should be aware that the miniature bottles you pick up at your convenience store don’t actually contain whiskey.
The drink is actually a malt beverage that tastes like whiskey. This is what Anna Marquez, an Illinois woman, is suing Sazerac Company for misleading packaging.
Marquez filed the class action lawsuit earlier this month. It alleges that the labels on small 99 cent bottles of Fireball Cinnamon look misleadingly like the labels on Fireball Cinnamon Whisky bottles.
According to the company’s website, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky contains 33% alcohol per volume and Fireball Cinnamon has 16.5% alcohol per volume.
The suit states that customers “expect those small bottles labeled “Fireball Cinnamon” to contain whiskey. This was a common mistake made by the manufacturer. “In reality, the whiskey consumers purchased at non-liquor shops ‘[was]n’t whiskey at all’ despite the [ir] labels being almost identical.”
According to the lawsuit, while the company can legally use the brand name “Fireball” in both drinks, federal law and state legislation prohibit the creation of a general “misleading impression.”
The lawsuit also complains about similar labels. According to the claim, the phrase “Malt Beverage With Natural Whisky and Other Flavors” was written in the “smallest permitted size.”
According to the lawsuit, misinformation about the product can be created by the use of the term “natural whisky”.
The lawsuit states that “Using the words “With Natural Whisky and Other Flavors” is a clever way to phrase it because consumers who read this will be able to see how ‘Natural Whisky is different from ‘Other Flavors.”
It said that customers will think the Product is a malt beverage with (1) natural whisky and (2) other flavorings.
This means that buyers might believe natural whisky is added as an ingredient to their drink, instead of understanding that it only contains “whisky flavors”.
Fireball explains the differences between its whisky products and malt products on their website.
The site explains that there are two key differences between Fireball Cinnamon labels and Fireball Whisky labels. Any package with Fireball ‘Cinnamon Whisky’ printed on the front label means that it is a whisky-based product. Any product that has Fireball ‘Cinnamon” on the front label without ‘Whisky, is either our malt or wine-based product.
Although Marquez is the only one who filed the lawsuit, it covers anyone in Illinois, North Dakota and Wyoming, Alaska, Arizona. Idaho, Mississippi. South Carolina. Kansas, Arkansas, Utah, and South Carolina who purchased Fireball Cinnamon.
