At a place like TGI Friday’s, it’s all about the apps. Hell, they love appetizers like potato skins and chicken wings so much over there that you can order an “endless” amount of them for a flat price. Once you leave the red- and white-striped confines of the casual dining chain, however, should you really expect TGI Fridays-branded potato chips to accurately recreate the potato skin experience?
Most of us would say no, but one Bronx woman believes so strongly in that idea that she’s taking TGI Friday’s to court. This week, Solange Troncoso filed a class action suit in Manhattan Federal Court alleging that TGI Fridays misleads its consumers because its “potato skins snacks” don’t actually contain any potato skins. The use of potato flakes and potato starch instead of the namesake ingredient that appears on bags of bacon ranch, cheddar and bacon, and sour cream and onion chips registers as a betrayal of trust that goads snackers into purchasing an inferior product.
Watch: How to Make the Ultimate Crispy Ranch Smashed Potatoes
According to Reuters, the inspiration for Tronosco’s suit dates back to June 30th, 2018, when she paid $1.99 for a bag of TGI Fridays sour cream and onion potato skins at a Bronx bodega. That purchase was allegedly made on the assumption that the Idaho Potato Commission and others have “associated potato skins with healthy eating.” I feel like anyone who’s even looked at a real potato skin-based appetizer would likely disagree with that sentiment, but potato, potahto.
As with most potential class action lawsuits, this one hinges on a very, uh, generous interpretation of what counts as an injury. “Troncoso was injured when she paid money for a product that did not deliver the qualities it promised and misled her as to its contents,” says an excerpt from the lawsuit quoted by the New York Daily News. “She would not have been willing to pay the sum she paid had she known it was mislabeled.”
So far, it doesn’t sound like TGI Fridays has much to say about the suit. That’s probably because a reasonable person wouldn’t expect the company to actually sell loose bags of magically shelf-stable potato skins when they already sell a more faithful recreation of potato skins that you can make in your microwave.
If you’re considering joining in on this $5 million class action lawsuit, I’ve got some more bad news for you: snacking on cool ranch Doritos will not make you cooler, eating Funyuns won’t cure your boredom, and Kettle’s backyard BBQ chips were not made in someone’s backyard. With that settled, hopefully we can all go back to snacking with reasonable expectations.
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