‘Misleading’: Anheuser-Busch Hit with Class Action Over Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer ‘Agave’ Claims

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A proposed class action alleges the marketing and advertising of Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer are misleading in part because they give buyers the impression that the drink contains a “more valued” type of agave ingredients than it actually does.

The 16-page complaint, filed in Illinois on October 5, contends that Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer, contrary to its “Made With Agave” marketing, contains no agave spirits. Per the suit, the hard seltzer is made instead with “agave syrup,” a commercially produced sweetener derived from the agave plant. 

According to the case, defendant Anheuser-Busch’s other advertising claims for Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer—including the use of the word “platinum”; emphasis that it’s “Made For the Night” and “8% ALC/VOL”; and images displaying the drink being poured into a glass—similarly lead buyers to believe that the product is worth materially more than its actual value.

“Reasonable consumers must and do rely on a company to honestly identify and describe the components, attributes, and features of the Product, relative to itself and other comparable products or alternatives,” the lawsuit says. “The value of the Product that plaintiff purchased was materially less than its value as represented by defendant.” 

The case relays that an increase in the public’s awareness and knowledge of tequila, as well as the agave-based liquor’s more recent association with celebrities and influencers, among other factors, has led to a greater demand for other types of agave-based spirits, which the suit says made up the fastest-growing alcohol category in the United States in 2020. According to the filing, agave spirits are the third-largest category for such in the U.S. in terms of sales, behind only vodka and whiskey. 

The case relays, however, that federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau regulations, which have been adopted by Illinois, set clear guidelines with regard to what can be categorized as “agave spirits,” namely as tequila and mezcal. According to the suit, agave spirits must be distilled from a fermented mash, of which at least 51 percent is derived from the plant species in the genus agave and up to 49 percent is derived from other sugars. Agave spirits, in the same light, must be distilled at less than 95 percent alcohol by volume and bottled at or above 40 percent alcohol by volume, the complaint says. 

“Federal (and thus, state) regulations for spirits prohibit ‘Any statement that is false or untrue in any particular, or that, irrespective of falsity, directly, or by ambiguity, omission, or inference, or by the addition of irrelevant, scientific or technical matter, tends to create a misleading impression,’” the lawsuit reads, stressing that whether a product is made with agave spirits is “basic front label information” consumers rely on when making purchasing decisions. 

The suit contends that the word “platinum” is an indicator a product is of a high value or comes with a “status and importance,” and the claim that Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer is “Made For the Night,” the case argues, “tells consumers that the Product is not a typical hard seltzer made from cane-sugar.” 

Moreover, Anheuser-Busch’s large-print emphasis on “8% ALC/VOL” informs consumers that the hard seltzer has a relatively high alcohol content, “which they will link to the expected presence of agave spirits,” the suit alleges. The picture of the hard seltzer being poured into a glass that appears on the front of the product’s packaging signifies to consumers that the beverage stands apart from other hard seltzers, which are typically consumed out of a can, the lawsuit goes on to argue. 

The plaintiff and proposed class members, i.e., consumers in Illinois, Iowa and Arkansas who bought Bud Light Platinum Hard Seltzer within the applicable statute of limitations period, would not have bought the product, or would have paid less for it, absent Anheuser-Busch’s “false and misleading statements and omissions,” the lawsuit claims.

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