Nowadays, it should no longer be a secret that: " any spreadable hazelnut and cocoa cream, by virtue of its nutritional content, albeit with the due differences related to the specific case, is not among the most healthy foods available on the market " .
On the other hand, however obvious, American consumers do not seem to have "digested" the misleading publicity attempt by Ferrero regarding the famous nutella®. In 2012, in the United States, a classaction legal action was taken against the famous Piedmontese multinational. First of all, we specify what a classaction is:
"By class action (or classaction or class-action) we mean a disciplinary procedure (art. 140bis Consumer Code, legislative decree 206 of 2005) that can be activated by any injured party, sometimes, through associations which mandate or committees in which it participates. Ultimately, it is a system that guarantees a certain level of collective protection towards a (hypothetical) offense on the part of a person or a company. In short, the class action is the most appropriate method a citizen can use in dealing with a legal action against a giant like Ferrero, as legal fees are appropriately allocated to all the participants of the association or group or committee ".
Returning to our nutella® and to the classaction of American citizens, it seems that the consumer group has strongly contested a Ferrero advertising spot in which it was suggested that the spreadable hazelnut and cocoa cream, thanks to its nutritional benefits, can be part of a balanced and healthy breakfast.
For Ferrero, the outcome was not the happiest; in April 2012, following his guilty plea, a pecuniary sentence of about 3 million dollars was sanctioned. Furthermore, the sentence forced the multinational company in question to make significant changes to the nutella® label, also varying the method of marketing the product; in particular, important revisions of the television commercials and of the information cited in the relative website have been requested.
