Red Bull False Advertising Settlement Approved

A New York federal court has reportedly approved an agreement between
Red Bull GmbH and a class of consumers, settling allegations that Red
Bull falsely advertised its product as providing more benefit than coffee
provides. Careathers v. Red Bull N. Am. Inc., No. 13-0369 (S.D.N.Y.,
order entered May 1, 2015); Wolf v. Red Bull GmbH, No. 13-8008
(S.D.N.Y., order entered May 1, 2015). The agreement allots $13 million
to the 2 million claimants, of whom 60 percent will each receive $4.23
and 40 percent will each receive a four-pack of Red Bull energy drinks.
The court cut the fees for plaintiffs’ counsel down to about $3.4 million,
or about $1.4 million less than they requested; the attorney’s fees and
class award were not linked, and the court apparently indicated that it
would have preferred to lower the attorney’s fees amount to increase the
total consumer amount to accommodate the large number of claimants
who joined the class after the settlement was proposed. See Law360,
May 1, 2015.

Issue 564