Jim Beam The Latest To Be Hit By Class Action Labeling Suit

Following high-profile class action lawsuits against brands like Tito’s and Maker’s Mark, Beam Suntory’s flagship Jim Beam Bourbon has now been targeted by a suit alleging false advertising for claiming on its labels that it’s “handcrafted.” California-based law firms Kazerouni Law Group APC and Hyde & Swigart—the same groups behind a similar Maker’s Mark labeling suit filed in December—filed a proposed class action in federal court Tuesday seeking to stop Jim Beam from advertising the whiskey as such, Law360 reports.

The plaintiff, Scott Welk, contends that Jim Beam’s claim of being handmade on its label duped him into paying a premium price for a product whose production resembles “a modern day assembly line involving little to no human supervision, assistance or involvement.”

In an email to SND, Beam Suntory’s senior vice president, corporate communications and public affairs, Clarkson Hine, said, “This claim is frivolous. We will defend our case vigorously and we are confident that we will prevail.”

In the ongoing suit against Maker’s Mark, Beam Suntory’s lawyers have argued that a reasonable consumer would understand that having “handmade” on a label does not infer that no machines were used throughout the entire production process. Plaintiff’s attorney Abbas Kazerounian of Kazerouni Law Group told Law360 the Jim Beam case has merit, and, similar to the actions against Maker’s Mark and Tito’s, is seeking to clean up label representations in California.

The Jim Beam brand was up 7% to 7.4 million cases globally last year, according to Impact Databank.

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Tagged : Beam Suntory, Hyde & Swigart, Jim Beam, Kazerouni Law Group APC, Maker's Mark, Tito's

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