Damages in alleged deceptive marketing case

Our clients, plaintiffs in a class action, alleged a manufacturer of liquor engaged in deceptive marketing and charged premium prices for its product by stating the product was “small batch” and made in a particular state even though it was actually distilled in another state. Brattle’s expert obtained data on the prices and characteristics of numerous brands of liquor, such as size of container, proof, age, whether it was labeled or advertised as “small batch,” and state listed on the label. He used econometric techniques to conduct a hedonic analysis of these data to test whether, and by how much, consumers were willing to pay more for products labeled or advertised as “small batch” or for those with a certain state listed on the label. The litigation was settled. As part of the settlement, the manufacturer agreed to provided cash payments to certain purchasers, remove the phrase “small batch” from its website and product label, and modify the product label to disclose that the product is distilled in another state than the one that was listed on the label.