# When did Fortune Cookies go from Fortunes to Affirmations? Did they get sued for false advertising? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 10, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410 "2024-02-10T23:13:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/1 "2024-02-10T23:13:23Z")
Something I definitely noticed is that most of the fortune cookies I get no longer have fortunes. Instead of stuff like “You will be given a great opportunity this week” instead the one I got was “Punctuality is the politeness of Kings and the duty of gentle people everywhere”, that’s not even a fortune that’s just advice! I’ve also gotten ones recently that were “Kindness shown is kindness returned” which also isn’t a fortune. Makes me wonder why exactly they stopped doing actual fortunes in them, what did somebody actually sue the company when their fortune didn’t actually happen? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/2 "2024-02-10T23:14:24Z")
I’ve noticed that, too. I call them “Platitude Cookies.” 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/3 "2024-02-10T23:15:55Z")
My favorite was a friend’s back in 1985: “It needs brains to be a real fool.” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/4 "2024-02-10T23:21:16Z")
That still is preferable to the ones I get sometimes, which have ads for some third-party company on the backside of the “fortune,” and for which the fortune itself is a thinly-veiled promotional message for that company. I have to guess that my local Chinese restaurant gets those for a lower price (since they’re probably subsidized by the advertiser), but the fortunes/platitudes contained within are generally lame. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/5 "2024-02-10T23:27:51Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > My favorite was a friend’s back in 1985: “It needs brains to be a real fool.” That must’ve been written by Homer Simpson. He beats Woody Allen at writing fortunes anytime: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/vImk3rGV4Vk/hqdefault.jpg "The Simpsons - Fortune Cookies") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vImk3rGV4Vk) ---
**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:** [February 10, 2024, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/6 "2024-02-10T23:29:11Z")
Yes, but with platitude cookies does it still work to add “… in bed.” to the end just for laffs? ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/7 "2024-02-10T23:34:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Yes, but with platitude cookies does it still work to add “… in bed.” to the end just for laffs? - You can never go wrong with adding “in bed” to any fortune or platitude. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2024, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/8 "2024-02-10T23:39:30Z")
Yes! 😆 Or “said the actress to the bishop.” ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/9 "2024-02-11T01:03:42Z")
That wasn’t chicken would be a good one. I once got one saying someone was going to gift me gold. Yah, didn’t happen. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/10 "2024-02-11T02:50:16Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > You can never go wrong with adding “in bed” to any fortune or platitude. Or Shakespeare quote. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/11 "2024-02-11T04:04:08Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > My favorite was a friend’s back in 1985: “It needs brains to be a real fool.” My favourite was: “Better to do nothing than to turn something into nothing.” Laziness for the win! ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/12 "2024-02-11T04:38:55Z")
I’m not sure what to think of it. I’ve gotten a strip of paper with no words. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/13 "2024-02-11T04:45:10Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > That wasn’t chicken would be a good one. > I once got one saying someone was going to gift me gold. > Yah, didn’t happen. Yet! My favorite fortune was the one that said, “Your dreams will come true by the end of summer.” It didn’t say _which_ summer. They should have to label the other kind. I like “platitude cookies.” ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/14 "2024-02-11T04:47:23Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’m not sure what to think of it. I’ve gotten a strip of paper with no words. Ooooh… profound! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/15 "2024-02-11T05:15:06Z")
“You will have sex with your mother.” ---
**Author:** ![Retzbu\_Tox](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/retzbu_tox/32/11829_2.png) [@Retzbu\_Tox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Retzbu_Tox)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/16 "2024-02-11T05:23:16Z")
True story. (I know, I know, that’s almost always the way some big whopper of a lie starts out.) Not too long after my wife and I got engaged, we went to a Chinese place and they gave us _ **three** _ fortune cookies at the end of the meal. I opened one, my wife opened one, and just being silly, we opened the third one together. “You will soon be married.” I strongly suspect the waitress pranked us, and had some non-random fortune cookies set aside for that sort of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/17 "2024-02-11T06:50:13Z")
No. It kinda lacked substance, really. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/18 "2024-02-11T16:59:01Z")
“Intelligence and beauty are seldom found in the same person.” My reaction was to interpret it as: “You’re either dumb or ugly - you choose.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/19 "2024-02-11T17:02:45Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I’m not sure what to think of it. I’ve gotten a strip of paper with no words. That’s unfortunate. > [@Yllaria](#): > > “Intelligence and beauty are seldom found in the same person.” > > My reaction was to interpret it as: “You’re either dumb or ugly - you choose.” Not necessarily-- You could still be dumb and ugly. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2024, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410/20 "2024-02-11T17:36:07Z")
Incidentally, have you seen the 2023 movie _Fremont_? It’s about a woman who immigrated from Afghanistan to the U.S. who now writes the fortunes for fortune cookies. That’s perhaps not the main theme of the movie, but she writes a fortune into which she puts her telephone number. She has that fortune put into one of the fortune cookies. Doing this turns out to be relevant to what happens at the ending of the film. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-fortune-cookies-go-from-fortunes-to-affirmations-did-they-get-sued-for-false-advertising/997410.md?page=2)