Feb. 20 (UPI) — An Illinois judge ruled against a Chicago man who sued Buffalo Wild Wings, alleging the chain’s use of the term “boneless wings” was deceptive marketing.
Aimen Halim filed a lawsuit against BWW in March 2023, challenging what he called “the false and deceptive marketing and advertising of Buffalo Wild Wings’ Boneless Wings.”
The suit alleged the products’ name misleads customers into thinking they are made of de-boned chicken wing meat, rather than fried chicken breast meat.
“Specifically, the name and description of the Products (i.e., as ‘Boneless Wings’) leads reasonable consumers to believe the Products are actually chicken wings,” the complaint stated.
Halim claimed he purchased a serving of boneless wings, and would not have done so if he had known they weren’t made of wing meat.
BWW responded to the lawsuit in a 2023 tweet.
“It’s true. Our boneless wings are all white meat chicken. Our hamburgers contain no ham. Our buffalo wings are 0% buffalo,” the company said.
U.S. District Judge John Tharp Jr. issued a ruling on Tuesday rejecting Halim’s complaint.
“Boneless wings are not a niche product for which a consumer would need to do extensive research to figure out the truth. Instead, ‘boneless wings’ is a common term that has existed for over two decades,” Tharp wrote in his ruling.
The ruling rejected Halim’s claim that the marketing is misleading.
“Despite his best efforts, Halim did not ‘drum’ up enough factual allegations to state a claim. Though he has standing to bring the claim because he plausibly alleged economic injury, he does not plausibly allege that reasonable consumers are fooled by BWW’s use of the term ‘boneless wings.'”
Tharp said Halim can modify and refile his claim by March 20.
“Accordingly, although it is difficult to imagine that Halim can provide additional facts about his experience that would demonstrate that BWW is committing a deceptive act by calling its nuggets ‘boneless wings,’ but the Court will give him leave to try. Any amended complaint is due by March 20, 2026,” the ruling states.
Buffalo Wild Wings celebrated the ruling on social media Thursday.
“They’re called boneless wings and will forever be called boneless wings,” the company tweeted.