The fact that two major American hot dog brands have major beef was enough to crack up a federal judge.
But after two years of pre-trial motions among four white-shoe law firms in a case striking at the most central claims of a $1.6 billion industry, this federal district court food fight in Chicago is no joke.
The battle pits Chicago-area companies Sara Lee Corp., which makes Ball Park franks, against Kraft Foods Inc., which owns Oscar Mayer, in a case that could clarify how far companies can go when boasting that their product is better than a competitor’s.
“Let the wiener wars begin,” quipped U.S. District Judge Morton Denlow in a Chicago courtroom yesterday.
But the hot dog makers were taking it seriously.
“There’s never been anything of this scope ... in the entire history of hot dogs,” said Sara Lee’s attorney, Richard Leighton, about what he described as Kraft’s false and deceptive ad claims about making a better-tasting frank.
Sara Lee opened the dispute in 2009 with a lawsuit accusing Kraft of unfair business practices for claims of taste-test superiority.
In court documents, Sara Lee’s lawyers also struck at the deepest fears of anyone who has ever approached a hot dog cart: the ingredient label.
“Oscar Mayer commercially advertises and promotes its Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks in interstate commerce as ‘the 100-percent pure beef dog,’” Sara Lee’s lawyers wrote.
“The product is neither ‘100-percent’ beef nor ‘pure’ beef. This willful, literally false attempt to distinguish Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks from the competition is done by Oscar Mayer despite its being well aware of the chemical and other non-beef contents of this product.”
Kraft, which has countersued, defended its advertisements and ingredients, writing that, “Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks contain beef and — as with all hot dogs — some additional ingredients.”
The issue of ketchup also became a point of contention. Kraft’s claims about making the nation’s tastiest hot dogs are based on taste tests that Sara Lee argues are flawed, according to the company’s complaint. Leighton, Sara Lee’s attorney, said tasters in the tests couldn’t put condiments like ketchup on their hot dogs.
But Denlow interrupted and alluded to a no-ketchup rule among Windy City wiener connoisseurs. When Leighton mentioned ketchup as a potential topping, Denlow cracked, “That’s an area of great dispute.”
And yet, while the brands rank among the best-known in the country, neither dominates independent taste tests. In 2007, Consumer Reports ranked Ball Park Beef Franks sixth and Oscar Meyer Beef Franks eighth for quality, flavor and texture, behind Nathan’s Famous and two varieties each by Boar’s Head and Hebrew National.
“Anyone I know in hot dog circles wouldn’t put Oscar Mayer or Ball Park in their top five, so I don’t know what they’re trying to prove,” said Rob Merino, 47, of Natick, Mass., an adviser to aspiring vendors. “People that appreciate a good hot dog will go with a more regionally produced dog.”
Others saw high stakes in the lawsuit.
“I wouldn’t imagine that a kid who smears ketchup all over a hot dog cares who makes it,” said frank foodie Michael Wick, 32, who blogs under the name The Hot Dog I Ate. “But adults seem to have loyalty to one type or another.”
Wick added, “I’ve never met a hot dog vendor who serves a product just because someone in San Francisco gave the dogs a thumbs up.”
Meanwhile, as lawyers for both sides presented their opening arguments yesterday, Denlow turned from wisecracking to skeptical.
“Don’t we have here a couple of big hot dog companies just saying they are the best?” Denlow said at one point. “Is there something more unusual going on here than what goes on every day?”
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Let's be frank!
But after two years of pre-trial motions among four white-shoe law firms in a case striking at the most central claims of a $1.6 billion industry, this federal district court food fight in Chicago is no joke.
The battle pits Chicago-area companies Sara Lee Corp., which makes Ball Park franks, against Kraft Foods Inc., which owns Oscar Mayer, in a case that could clarify how far companies can go when boasting that their product is better than a competitor’s.
“Let the wiener wars begin,” quipped U.S. District Judge Morton Denlow in a Chicago courtroom yesterday.
But the hot dog makers were taking it seriously.
“There’s never been anything of this scope ... in the entire history of hot dogs,” said Sara Lee’s attorney, Richard Leighton, about what he described as Kraft’s false and deceptive ad claims about making a better-tasting frank.
Sara Lee opened the dispute in 2009 with a lawsuit accusing Kraft of unfair business practices for claims of taste-test superiority.
In court documents, Sara Lee’s lawyers also struck at the deepest fears of anyone who has ever approached a hot dog cart: the ingredient label.
“Oscar Mayer commercially advertises and promotes its Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks in interstate commerce as ‘the 100-percent pure beef dog,’” Sara Lee’s lawyers wrote.
“The product is neither ‘100-percent’ beef nor ‘pure’ beef. This willful, literally false attempt to distinguish Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks from the competition is done by Oscar Mayer despite its being well aware of the chemical and other non-beef contents of this product.”
Kraft, which has countersued, defended its advertisements and ingredients, writing that, “Oscar Mayer Jumbo Beef Franks contain beef and — as with all hot dogs — some additional ingredients.”
The issue of ketchup also became a point of contention. Kraft’s claims about making the nation’s tastiest hot dogs are based on taste tests that Sara Lee argues are flawed, according to the company’s complaint. Leighton, Sara Lee’s attorney, said tasters in the tests couldn’t put condiments like ketchup on their hot dogs.
But Denlow interrupted and alluded to a no-ketchup rule among Windy City wiener connoisseurs. When Leighton mentioned ketchup as a potential topping, Denlow cracked, “That’s an area of great dispute.”
And yet, while the brands rank among the best-known in the country, neither dominates independent taste tests. In 2007, Consumer Reports ranked Ball Park Beef Franks sixth and Oscar Meyer Beef Franks eighth for quality, flavor and texture, behind Nathan’s Famous and two varieties each by Boar’s Head and Hebrew National.
“Anyone I know in hot dog circles wouldn’t put Oscar Mayer or Ball Park in their top five, so I don’t know what they’re trying to prove,” said Rob Merino, 47, of Natick, Mass., an adviser to aspiring vendors. “People that appreciate a good hot dog will go with a more regionally produced dog.”
Others saw high stakes in the lawsuit.
“I wouldn’t imagine that a kid who smears ketchup all over a hot dog cares who makes it,” said frank foodie Michael Wick, 32, who blogs under the name The Hot Dog I Ate. “But adults seem to have loyalty to one type or another.”
Wick added, “I’ve never met a hot dog vendor who serves a product just because someone in San Francisco gave the dogs a thumbs up.”
Meanwhile, as lawyers for both sides presented their opening arguments yesterday, Denlow turned from wisecracking to skeptical.
“Don’t we have here a couple of big hot dog companies just saying they are the best?” Denlow said at one point. “Is there something more unusual going on here than what goes on every day?”
READ MORE
Let's be frank!
