What would it be like to live in a world where everything that was printed in an ad or said in a commercial were true? It seems that's the world that Matthew Sinatro and Jessica Prost were seeking to build — at least when it comes to spaghetti. The two filed a lawsuit against the pasta-making company Barilla, which they say is deliberately deceiving shoppers by using the slogan "Italy's #1 Brand of Pasta" on its packaging. Despite the green, white and red stylized Italian flags displayed on the blue boxes of angel hair, fusilli and bowtie pastas, a complaint filed in Northern California noted that the majority of the company's products sold in the U.S. are produced in Iowa and New York and are not made with ingredients sourced from Italy. Sinatro and Prost argued that they were duped by the company’s alleged “false advertising” and deceptive marketing practices and they wouldn’t have spent a combined total of $6 on Barilla products had they known the pasta was made in the United States. Court documents show that Barilla filed to have the case dismissed, arguing that Sinatro and Prost couldn't prove that they suffered financial harm. Sinatro, who lives in San Francisco, purchased one box of angel hair pasta for about $2, while Prost bought two boxes of spaghetti for approximately $2 each at a grocery store in Los Angeles. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
