The gripe: Various “representations are misleading because they give consumers the impression the product contains a more value type of Agave than it does.”
The complaint notes “agave spirits are the fastest-growing category of spirits in the U.S. and increased c. 20% in 2020, twice as much as bourbon, the second highest.” Also, “in 2020, the volume of agave spirits surpassed the rum and bourbon categories.”
It goes on to note that Bud Light Seltzer has a “made with agave” statement on its front label. The complaint then alleges that the product doesn’t meet Alcohol & tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau label standards because it “lacks any agave spirits and instead uses “Agave Syrup,” a sweeter derived from the Agave plant” and therefore misleads the public.
So too does A-B’s use of “platinum” on the label and the slogan “Made for the Night,” a phrase the complaint says signifies Bud Light Seltzer “is not a typical hard seltzer made from cane sugar. It also takes issue with a picture on the front of the box showing the product poured into a glass. “This is significant, as consumers are accustomed to drinking hard seltzer from cans” but spirits from glasses.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois by Spencer Sheehan, a Great Neck, N.Y., lawyer.