An Illinois man filed a class action lawsuit against the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant chain, alleging their boneless “wings” are essentially chicken nuggets, multiple outlets reported.
“This clear-cut case of false advertising should not be permitted, as consumers should be able to rely on the plain meaning of a product’s name and receive what they are promised,” the lawsuit states, as reported by KTTV.
Aimen Halim, of Chicago, says the “wings” sold at Buffalo Wild Wings are actually “slices of chicken breast meat deep-fried like wings,” the outlet also reported.
The lawsuit says Halim suffered “financial injury” after he bought some high-priced wings before knowing what they were made of, later regretting his decision.
He contends that if consumers knew what the “wings” were really made of, chicken breast meat, they might forego buying them at all, or at least be only willing to pay much less.
He notes in his lawsuit that other restaurants selling boneless chicken take pains to avoid marketing the product as “wings,” TMZ reported.
False and deceptive business practices are among the claims for which Halim is suing.
Buffalo Wild Wings offers “wings” in two varieties on its menus. The first variety, called “traditional” is the bone-in variety. The second is the “boneless” variety, which Halim contends is not made of meat from the wing. Rather, it’s made from meat from chicken breast.
Both varieties are “handspun in your favorite sauce of dry seasoning,” the menu says.
A menu posted by TMZ shows the cost for six “traditional” wings at $11.29 and the cost of six “boneless” wings at $9.79.
A pack of 20 chicken nuggets at McDonald’s, regular or spicy, averages about $5 in some locations, according to FastFoodMenuPrices. At Wendy’s, customers pay a bit more, about $5.99 for 10 nuggets. At Burger King, hungry patrons can get 10 chicken nuggets, a drink, and a small fry for $5.99.
The price of real chicken wings skyrocketed during the pandemic. By August 2022, prices for chicken wings had dropped back to pre-pandemic levels, the United States Department of Agriculture said in an outlook report at the time.
The prices for real chicken wings dropped back down due in part to an increase in supply, according to Today. Restaurants that switched to “boneless” wings during the shortage, stuck with it, rather that returning to the bone-in variety. That, in turn, caused the the supply of the bone-in variety to balloon and the price to decrease.
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