New York, NY: A class action lawsuit has been filed against soft drink giant Coca-Cola Co, and marketing firm Mozes Inc, alleging the companies violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) when it sent unsolicited text message spam to thousands of consumers without permission. The lawsuit is brought on behalf of all persons or entities across the US that, within the past four years, received a wireless text message promoting Coca-Cola' goods or services.
Wesley Phillips, lead plaintiff in Phillips v. Mozes Inc. et al., Case No. 12-cv-4033, claims in the lawsuit that when he responded to a scoreboard announcement during a football game between the University of Alabama and Louisiana State University in 2011, instructing fans to vote via text for the school they support, he also, unwittingly, signed up for the Coca-Cola text messages.
Phillips claims that he received an unsolicited text containing a Coke Zero ad immediately after texting, and that the ad asked him to provide his birth date in order to enter a contest and join the "Coke Zero mobile list."
According to the lawsuit, Phillips did not respond to Coca-Cola' text request, however he received another unsolicited text message suggesting he vote for his team again "to make sure they win."He did as prompted, according to the lawsuit, and immediately thereafter he received another text message, identical to the first, which contained the Coke Zero ad. This text also asked that he provide his date of birth, Phillips claims.
In total, Phillips alleges he received fiveunsolicited text messages from Coca-Cola during the football game before finally submitting his date of birth. In response, Phillips received a text saying he had "joined the Coke Zero mobile list."
Once Phillips realized that he had unwittingly signed on to a commercial text message list and was no longer just voting for his football team, he cancelled. However, he claims he was sent another unsolicited text message informing him that his membership had been cancelled and directing him to a website operated by co-defendant Mozes to "learn more."
The TCPA class action lawsuit filed against Coca-Cola and Mozes Inc., the company Coke used to send advertisements for its Coke Zero products, claims the defendants are in violation of the TCPA because the act prohibits companies from contacting people on their cell phone using an automatic dialing system or artificial or pre-recorded voice without their prior express consent. The fine for violating the TCPA is $500 per incident.
