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As non-US person, what is the motivation of these kind of lawsuits which seem to be ridiculous from a layman perspective? Is it because how the US system is sta

As non-US person, what is the motivation of these kind of lawsuits which seem to be ridiculous from a layman perspective? Is it because how the US system is stacked to give a massive payout to a law firm who presents the clients? As in other countries, people would just stop eating in the place if the food falls short of expectations.

TylerE 3y ago
Not so much money, of whcih there is usually very little (exception: stuff that ends up being found to cause cancer) after the lawyers take their giant cut (which is totally fair - these cases are taken on a "you don't get anything, we don't get anything" basis, and the lawyers front all the money for expert witnesses, investigations, etc). The motivation for the people filing the suit is to get the company to stop doing it.
araes 3y ago
In the US, lawsuits are one of the primary ways used to compel behavior, especially from corporate institutions. While your solution has merit, it suffers from tragedy of the commons issues. I cannot compel other customers to stop eating there. I cannot compel other fast food restaurants to act better. Quality version: McD and Wendy's look at BK, and see BK makes large profits selling junk, look at their own process and say "we waste money on quality we don't need", and then they all race to the bottom. If the situation is bad, and the market mostly colludes (such as with recent price hikes, where everyone knows everyone else is going to raise prices, so they all do), then all you're left with is: "They all act that way, because they know we have no options." All burgers now cost $5 more. Bloomberg at least refers to this phenomenon as "Excuseflation." [1] Also similar to "Shrinkflation." (Products across all stores slowly become smaller) [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-09/how-excuseflation-is-keeping-prices-and-corporate-profits-high#xj4y7vzkg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-09/how-excus...
rurp 3y ago
These lawsuits change the calculations of other companies tempted to engage in false advertising. The only reason actual Whoppers don't match what is shown in commercials is so that Burger King can squeeze out a larger profit margin. Stealing a handful of cents on each transaction isn't a big deal on any one sale, but adds up to a lot at their volume. Corporations have a lot of incentive to be dishonest, and lawsuits are one of the few effective ways to punish that behavior.

TylerE 3y ago

Not so much money, of whcih there is usually very little (exception: stuff that ends up being found to cause cancer) after the lawyers take their giant cut (which is totally fair - these cases are taken on a "you don't get anything, we don't get anything" basis, and the lawyers front all the money for expert witnesses, investigations, etc). The motivation for the people filing the suit is to get the company to stop doing it.

araes 3y ago

In the US, lawsuits are one of the primary ways used to compel behavior, especially from corporate institutions. While your solution has merit, it suffers from tragedy of the commons issues. I cannot compel other customers to stop eating there. I cannot compel other fast food restaurants to act better. Quality version: McD and Wendy's look at BK, and see BK makes large profits selling junk, look at their own process and say "we waste money on quality we don't need", and then they all race to the bottom. If the situation is bad, and the market mostly colludes (such as with recent price hikes, where everyone knows everyone else is going to raise prices, so they all do), then all you're left with is: "They all act that way, because they know we have no options." All burgers now cost $5 more. Bloomberg at least refers to this phenomenon as "Excuseflation." [1] Also similar to "Shrinkflation." (Products across all stores slowly become smaller) [1] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-09/how-excuseflation-is-keeping-prices-and-corporate-profits-high#xj4y7vzkg https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-03-09/how-excus...

rurp 3y ago

These lawsuits change the calculations of other companies tempted to engage in false advertising. The only reason actual Whoppers don't match what is shown in commercials is so that Burger King can squeeze out a larger profit margin. Stealing a handful of cents on each transaction isn't a big deal on any one sale, but adds up to a lot at their volume. Corporations have a lot of incentive to be dishonest, and lawsuits are one of the few effective ways to punish that behavior.