Halloween hasn't arrived, but Hershey has already added a new line of fine print. USA Today confirmed on October 6 that Reese's Peanut Butter Pumpkins now carry a disclaimer on the front of the packaging reading "Carving not on actual product" — printed beneath the rendering of the pumpkin-shaped candy carved with a jack-o'-lantern face.
The old packaging had its own disclaimer, "Decorating Suggestion." Hershey has not explained why it changed the wording; USA Today reached out to the company on October 6 and had not received a response.
The packaging tweak follows a Florida lawsuit over the carved faces. In May 2024, Florida residents Nathan Vidal and Eduardo Granados sued Hershey for deceptive marketing, seeking $5 million: the wrapper showed a pumpkin candy with a carved jack-o'-lantern face, but the actual chocolates were plain, they said.
It wasn't the first round. Four people who bought the same products in 2023 had filed a similar suit, saying they were "distraught" when the candies didn't match the pictures.
Florida District Judge Melissa Damian dismissed the case on September 16 — the second dismissal, after the first in September 2025. In her ruling, she wrote that the only injury the plaintiffs experienced was "their subjective disappointment": the gap between wrapper and candy caused no concrete economic harm.
Hershey's position in the litigation: reasonable consumers would not expect the carvings to be present on the actual candy, and buyers received what they paid for — Reese's chocolate.
The legal threshold here is worth a closer look. In US consumer-fraud litigation, the question is not really whether the packaging was "exaggerated" — it is whether the plaintiffs can show concrete economic harm. The judge's logic: the missing jack-o'-lantern face didn't shrink the chocolate or change its taste, and buyers got equivalent candy for their money. Disappointment was real; legally cognizable loss was not. That is precisely what the plaintiffs' appeal will test — whether "misleading packaging" itself can count as a compensable injury.
The plaintiffs aren't done. Their lawyer, James Kelly, says they plan to appeal, framing the case as a matter of consumer protection in Florida. Meanwhile, Hershey's Halloween business rolls on: the company launched more than 20 Halloween-themed products this year, with Reese's Pumpkins headlining its "Hersheyween" lineup.
Next up: how the appeals court rules — and whether next Halloween's wrapper gains yet another line of small print.