A federal court has dismissed a proposed class action against PepsiCo Inc. alleging that consumers were somehow being misled to believe that the company’s Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries breakfast cereal contain real fruit.  Roy Werbel v. PepsiCo Inc., No: C 09-04456 SBA (N.D. Cal. 7/1/2010).

Here at MassTortDefense we have railed against the trends in consumer fraud class actions, as plaintiff lawyers seek class status for alleged economic-only harm claims, when they find some word or image in advertising that they can quibble about or argue is somehow ambiguous to a client.  No one is really harmed; no one is misled; no one is defrauded.  The theories of the case make a mockery of common sense and personal responsibility. But, hey, fees may be available. This case is part of an appropriate response to such claims.

Cap’n Crunch debuted in 1963, and Crunch Berries came along in 1967. The Cap’n was drawn by the same guy that created Dudley Do-Right, George of the Jungle, and Moose and Squirrel (Rocky and Bullwinkle.)  Perhaps some of our readership will remember the original commercials featuring the canine Sea Dog, who sailed with the Cap’n on his ship, The Good Ship Guppy. The crew was tasked with keeping the cereal safe from the Cap’n’s nemesis, Jean LaFoote, the Barefoot Pirate.  Trivia question: what is the Cap’n’s full name?  See below.

Plaintiff Roy Werbel brought the putative class action against defendant on behalf of consumers who allegedly were misled into believing that “Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries” cereal derives some of its nutritional value from real berries or fruit.  On the package, immediately below the product name is a product description, which states: “SWEETENED CORN & OAT CEREAL.”  The display panel also depicts a ship’s captain in cartoon form standing behind a bowl of cereal, and holding a spoonful of multi-colored Crunch Berries. Plaintiff alleged that the colorful Crunchberries [sic] on the box conveyed only one message: that Cap’n Crunch “has some nutritional value derived from fruit.”  Although the product contains strawberry juice concentrate, that ingredient allegedly is for flavoring only.  According to plaintiff, the only reason that the front display panel on the Cap’n Crunch cereal box refers to “berries” is “to lead consumers to believe that the Product contains nutritional content derived from fruit.”

Plaintiff alleged statutory violations under California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), Cal. Bus. & Prof.Code § 17200, et seq., False Advertising Law (“FAL”), id. § 17500, et seq., and Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), Cal. Civ.Code § 1750, et seq., along with common law causes of action for intentional misrepresentation and breach of express and implied warranty. Claims made under these statutes are governed by the “reasonable consumer” test which focuses on whether “members of the public are likely to be deceived.” Williams v. Gerber Prods. Co., 552 F.3d 934, 938 (9th Cir. 2008) (citing Freeman v. Time, Inc., 68 F.3d 285, 289 (9th Cir. 1995)).

In response to the theory that members of the public were likely to be deceived into believing that Cap’n Crunch derives nutrition from actual fruit by virtue of the reference to Crunch Berries, the court gave a one word conclusion: “Nonsense.”   It was obvious from the product packaging that no
reasonable consumer would believe that Cap’n Crunch derived any nutritional value from
berries. As an initial matter, the term “Berries” was not used alone, but always was preceded by the
word “Crunch,” to form the term, “Crunch Berries.”  Even the image of the Crunch Berries showed four cereal balls with a rough, textured surface in hues of deep purple, teal, chartreuse green and bright red. These cereal balls do not even remotely resemble any naturally occurring fruit of any kind we have ever seen; there are no pictures or images of any berries or any other fruit depicted on the Cap’n Crunch cereal box.

Moreover, there were no representations that the Crunch Berries are derived from real fruit or are nutritious because of fruit content. To the contrary, the packaging clearly stated that product is a “SWEETENED CORN & OAT CEREAL.” In short, no reasonable consumer would be deceived into believing that Cap’n Crunch has some nutritional value derived from fruit.

The warranty claim, that defendant allegedly warranted that Cap’n Crunch “contains berries” and “was a substantially fruit-based product deriving nutritional value from fruit,” was deemed “frivolous.” No such claim was made expressly or impliedly anywhere on the Cap’n Crunch packaging or marketing material cited by plaintiff.

Case dismissed, with NO leave to amend to try to salvage some treasurer from nothing.  The Cap’n lives on.

Trivia answer: In May 2007 Cap’n Crunch’s full name was revealed as Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch.