Ice for Days? Class Action Alleges Coleman Coolers Falsely Labeled, Advertised

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action alleges the Coleman Company Inc. has falsely and misleadingly advertised the length of time for which certain coolers can retain ice.

According to the 21-page lawsuit, Coleman’s coolers, which bear the labels “1 Day” through “7 Days,” simply cannot retain ice for as long as reasonable buyers are led to believe. While some of Coleman’s cooler products are labeled with a disclaimer, such as “Ice Storage at 90 Degrees Fahrenheit,” the disclosure is often shown in a lighter color and small font to “prevent buyers from noticing it,” the complaint says, arguing neither the plaintiff nor other consumers would have bought a Coleman cooler had they “known the truth about the misrepresentations and omissions.”

Whereas a consumer’s definition of “ice retention” comprises the time it takes for the original ice in a cooler to become completely non-functional and lose its ability to keep items chilled, Coleman’s take on “ice retention” is a notch different, the suit alleges: 

“Defendant’s definition of ‘ice retention’ seems to be the amount of days it takes most or all of the ice to be melted into liquid starting from the ice filled to full capacity.  

Defendant clearly and conspicuously has conveyed the message to consumers that the Product retains the ice for 1 to 7 days.”

 The lawsuit relays that competing products, such as those sold by Yeti, do not come labeled with ice retention claims. Per the complaint, a consumer exposed to Coleman’s ice retention claim expects the cooler to not only retain ice for the length of time stipulated on the label, but to keep food and beverage items inside the cooler chilled for just as long. 

As the suit tells it, Coleman has “known about their false claim for many years.” Included in the complaint are less-than-rosy online reviews from buyers reportedly unhappy with the fact that their Coleman coolers cannot keep ice frozen for as many days as the defendant claims.

Further, an experiment conducted by YouTubers, dubbed the “5 Day Ice Challenge,” found that the Coleman cooler used as an example contained no ice and only melted water after about 96 hours, or four days, the lawsuit says.

“Under the circumstances, the Product falls far short of reasonable consumer’s expectations,” the suit contends. “Based on Defendant’s claim, a reasonable consumer would expect the ice to be functional for [the] claimed number of days and not turn into water.”

The lawsuit, filed on October 31 in New York federal court, echoes a case filed against Igloo Products Corp. on October 14 over the company’s allegedly misleading labeling for its coolers. Sought for inclusion in the proposed class is anyone who bought one or more Coleman coolers, labeled “1 Day” to “7 Days,” in the United States or its territories.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s newsletter here.