# Local burger place claims they serve Coca-Cola but they don't, do I have a legal case against them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 31, 2025, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386 "2025-03-31T05:23:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/141 "2025-04-01T19:55:11Z")
BTW, that “If you report anything, why don’t you report _everything_, huh?” stuff is just an excuse for doing absolutely nothing, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/142 "2025-04-01T19:55:32Z")
Look, this is false advertising, which is prohibited under the Lanham Act, and which provides individuals a federal cause of action. I’m not sure what your damages are going to be here though. It is also straight trademark infringement, which gives Coca-Cola a federal cause of action as well. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/143 "2025-04-01T19:56:21Z")
> [@Babale](#): > > \*This happened to me the other day with a Wingstop. I ordered a delivery, and they sent the completely incorrect order. I called the restaurant and complained; they told me to come down to their location to get a new one. I told them the whole reason I ordered delivery is that I didn’t feel like coming down to their store, but they were insistent that there’s nothing they can do; and then when I went down to their location, they refused to refund my delivery fee. But Wingstop is a franchise, so I complained to Corporate and they gave me a gift card to cover the whole order and the next (which I placed at _a different_ Wingstop location, thank you very much.) If it was delivered by DoorDash or UberEats or InstaCart or LyftFood or something, why would you call the Wingstop? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/144 "2025-04-01T19:56:28Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > > [@Czarcasm](#): > > > > Contact Coca-Cola and tell them that their name is being used to sell someone else’s soda. > > sounds like a call to action to me. I’m glad you didn’t post Coca-Cola’s phone number Really? Person A asks for advice in situation [whatever]. Person B suggests Person A, and person A alone, do [whatever] in response. And in response you jump up and label person B’s advice a call to action in violation of board rules? Seems _extremely_ farfetched to me. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/145 "2025-04-01T19:56:56Z")
Whooosh ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/146 "2025-04-01T19:57:16Z")
Could be. I’m not yet convinced. ---
**Author:** ![We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/We_re_wolves_not_werewolves)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/147 "2025-04-01T19:59:56Z")
sorry! that was a (lame) joke based on this kerfuffle [Publishing a public library's general contact info is doxxing now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-public-librarys-general-contact-info-is-doxxing-now/1015924) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/148 "2025-04-01T20:03:20Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Anecdote: There is a burger place in Visalia, CA called Doc’s that decorated the exterior with Bugs Bunny (what’s up, doc - get it?). It was reported to Warner Bros. Discovery and they were ordered to remove the BB images, or so I’m told. They are still in business today and doing well as far as I know… sans the famous rabbit iconography. Not that surprising, considering the famous theme park in the area that has Warner Bros. toon-themed costumed characters strolling the grounds. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/149 "2025-04-01T20:05:52Z")
> [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > sorry! that was a (lame) joke based on this kerfuffle > [Publishing a public library's general contact info is doxxing now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-public-librarys-general-contact-info-is-doxxing-now/1015924) > [@We\_re\_wolves\_not\_werewolves](#): > > sorry! that was a (lame) joke based on this kerfuffle > [Publishing a public library's general contact info is doxxing now?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/publishing-a-public-librarys-general-contact-info-is-doxxing-now/1015924) Joke’s on me I guess. 🤦‍♂️ Everyone has been increasingly on edge around here and some folks have indeed gotten to the point of seeing bad faith / excessively doctrinaire arguing everywhere. Ironic that I thought you were doing that and I ended up doing it myself. No worries at this end. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/150 "2025-04-01T20:13:48Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > just an excuse for doing absolutely nothing, in my opinion. Pfft, like I need an excuse. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/151 "2025-04-01T20:20:03Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > > [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > > > This misses the point entirely. You go there for the burgers, but you don’t want to pay namebrand prices for offbrand cola while you are there. > > I don’t know if the price of a fountain soda is going to change much based on the brand. As I understand it, a cup filled with Coca-Cola or Pepsi is insanely cheap for the restaurant and the amount of profit made is so high they can afford to just give you free refills. This is an important point. The guy running the Bob’s Burgers (or whatever) is probably undercutting Carl’s Jr. by a dime (and he probably used to be able to do that while ordering Coca-Cola products. Otherwise how did he score Coca-Cola branded equipment in the first place?). And he has probably been able to do that by buying paper cups that aren’t labeled with the Coke logo. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/152 "2025-04-01T20:25:18Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > > (There are two mom-and-pop hot dog / Italian beef / pizza places near me that have the RC / 7-Up products, likely for that very reason.) > > This is kind of a hijack, but one random detail I noticed in the montage at the beginning of _The Bear_ episode “Review” is that the guy scrubbing the windows of the Italian beef shop at 1:31 is scrubbing an RC Cola sign. That kind of made me wonder if RC was a Chicago thing. But it sounds like it’s not, just a mom & pop cost savings thing. > > [https://youtu.be/Dhn8gQsV2GE?si=xwiIsbBbq5PpyW5x&t=90&123/](https://youtu.be/Dhn8gQsV2GE?si=xwiIsbBbq5PpyW5x&t=90&123/) In the past couple of weeks, I have found TWO restaurants in Portland that served RC Cola, something I never saw in SoCal. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/153 "2025-04-01T20:26:50Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > or even [shudder] the ginger ale gendarmerie It could be worse, the Bubble Bouncers can come for anyone in the league - carbonated or nitro, alcoholic or not, if it bubbles/sparkles/effervescences they will come down on you with both boots. I know the OP isn’t treating this super seriously, but I would like, from my own curiosity, to know how much the place in question charges for their soda. I mean, even the locally owned places now generally charge $2+ for drinks with refills, regardless of the low cost, and I understand it, it’s one of the few places to make _real_ profit when food is always far closer to break even between time to prepare, the materials, etc. If this place was “only” charging $1 for drinks, well, I would be a lot _less_ offended at the branding. If they’re charging the usual for name-brands (which seems to be the case), then, yeah, I’d be more irritated. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.winston_oboogie/32/2945_2.png) [@Dr.Winston\_OBoogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Winston_OBoogie)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/154 "2025-04-01T20:32:10Z")
> [@Jack\_Burden](#): > > It’s hard to see what your damages are here - seems like this is just another nuisance lawsuit. Haven’t read the whole thread yet, but… My wife can’t drink Diet Pepsi. There is something in it that gives her headaches. Now, if the generic diet cola has the same ingredient as Diet Pepsi that gives my wife headaches, then I have damages. ---
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/155 "2025-04-01T20:36:20Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > If it was delivered by DoorDash or UberEats or InstaCart or LyftFood or something, why would you call the Wingstop? I put in the order through Wingstop’s website. I was not, at that time, a customer of any of those food delivery services. Wingstop may have chosen to handle my order by delegating it to one of those services, but if so, and if that service was at fault (and in this case they weren’t, because the delivered bag had my name on it) then that’s for Wingstop to work out with them; my transaction was with Wingstop, I had no customer relationship with any delivery service. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/156 "2025-04-01T20:36:55Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > In the past couple of weeks, I have found TWO restaurants in Portland that served RC Cola, something I never saw in SoCal. It’s been years since I’ve been, but the last time I was there the [McMenamins](https://www.mcmenamins.com/) chain in the PNW served RC products. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/157 "2025-04-01T20:47:00Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > > > In the past couple of weeks, I have found TWO restaurants in Portland that served RC Cola, something I never saw in SoCal. > > It’s been years since I’ve been, but the last time I was there the [McMenamins](https://www.mcmenamins.com/) chain in the PNW served RC products. Well, When I’m at McMenamins, I usually get a beer. I’ve noticed it at Clyde’s and Tik Tok Restaurant. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/158 "2025-04-01T22:19:04Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > This is an important point. There’s a lot of ‘probablys’ in your post. 😉 My post was addressing **Spoons** mistaken understanding that the OP (or others in this thread) were choosing to go to that burger joint for the drinks. The _actual_ important point, to me anyway, is if they advertise actual Coke and serve me knock-off cola, that’s wrong. There will be a taste difference and they are ‘probably’ profiting off of the deception. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/159 "2025-04-01T22:40:04Z")
I would imagine that if the signage said they were serving Coca Cola, and they were serving off-brand cola, they could argue that the inferior off-brand cola damaged their brand image and reputation. But as for the consumer? You might have standing, but damages aren’t present, so while you could sue, you wouldn’t probably get very far. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386/160 "2025-04-01T23:06:18Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > That kind of made me wonder if RC was a Chicago thing. But it sounds like it’s not, just a mom & pop cost savings thing. Oh it absolutely is a Chicago thing. Growing up, an order of pizza from the local pizzeria would almost always come with one free liter of RC. I very much associate RC with at least my neighborhood and the surrounding neighborhoods here in the South/Southwest Side of Chicago. Local wedding halls often would also have RC, or sometimes even Filbert’s (a still-extant Chicago soda brand.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/local-burger-place-claims-they-serve-coca-cola-but-they-dont-do-i-have-a-legal-case-against-them/1016386.md?page=9)