n. retweetledi
Yall remember that McDonald’s hot coffee case a few years back? Where a woman sued the restaurant because her coffee was too hot; she won a couple million bucks; and everyone said the result was an indictment of the American legal system, because people shouldn’t be so litigious. But, in reality, the plaintiff in that case suffered horrific, life altering burns across 20-30% of her body, which required several days in the hospital, multiple years of disability, and skin grafting operations.
The Alani case *may* prove to be a similar story. The lawsuit doesn’t say “kid drank caffeine. Kid died. Money please.”
The allegations are that the company which distributes and markets Alani, falsely labels it as a heath and wellness drink— particularly targeting that advertisement to kids via things like influencer campaigns (which are more likely to have a younger audience). Despite this marketing, the drinks have significantly more caffeine than the rest of the market (having 200mg of caffeine, compared to 160mg in Monster, or 80mg in Red Bull).
Equally, the girl who passed away had no preexisting heart conditions, and there’s plenary evidence that she was swayed by the aforementioned marketing.
The case isn’t 1:1 with McDonalds and the coffee— hell, the causes of action that are most likely to carry the day, aren’t even the same. But the perception of the cases, certainly rhymes.
To the extent that people want companies to behave ethically and safely (which is something we all want), lawsuits like this serve the purpose of sitting down lines as to the proverbial rules of the game. At why point does influencer marketing towards kids, on a product that is even labeled as being dangerous for kids— start to run afoul of law and common sensibilities?
Honestly, that’s not my place to answer— it’s the jury’s. Everyone can have their opinion on whether this type of conduct is okay. But, the lawsuit is far from frivolous, or shaking a money tree.
Miss Sandrist@foreverimbetter
So a teenager was drinking multiple energy drinks a day and died so the family is suing the energy drink company? Are parents ever gonna realize that parenting is their job?
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