The Bizarre Reason One Man Sued Texas Pete Hot Sauce

As the old adage goes, never judge a book by its cover. Although this phrase technically refers to bound hardbacks and paperbacks, it applies to brands, too. When an entrepreneur creates a new product, a major factor to think about is the brand image. According to Forbes, brand image is all about the qualities that uniquely identify a product and is how impressions are made on consumers. So, if you use an image of a strong, radiant stallion as the logo for your car (looking at you, Porsche), one might assume it will be fast and strong, and that the experience of sitting in the driver's seat will be freeing. 

For most businesses, a brand image is not a literal snapshot of the company, but how you'd like your product to be represented. Take Texas Pete Hot Sauce for example. According to its website, brand image was exactly the question running through the founder's heads after the creation of the spicy condiment. Although the hot sauce is made in North Carolina, founder Sam Garner and his three sons wanted a name people recognized as American. They eventually came up with Texas Pete Hot Sauce, combining Garner's son Harold's nickname, "Pete," with the southwestern state of Texas. 

Although this origin story is fairly mundane, it has left one man from California absolutely fuming. (And no, not just because he dislikes spicy things.) He claims Garner Foods has been falsely advertising its products, according to USA Today, and now a lawsuit is underway.

According to USA Today, Philip White feels misled by Texas Pete's brand name and the use of a cowboy on its bottle. Those two qualities were what drew White to buy the sauce in the first place in September of 2021. Upon learning that the condiment is actually made in North Carolina however, he called an attorney, as USA Today reported. The Clarkson Law Firm then filed a complaint on his behalf on September 12 of this year in a Los Angeles federal court. 

White is now suing Texas Pete Hot Sauce for false advertising of its products and says he wouldn't have bought the hot sauce if he'd known its true origins. The plaintiffs are hoping that Garner Foods will be forced to change its name and branding as well as pay for damages. 

While there is an image on the back label of each bottle stating that it is manufactured in North Carolina — not to mention a page on the Texas Pete website – the lawsuit claims that a consumer would likely not notice. Given the "distinctly Texan" images on the front of the bottle, it also claims that most people would assume the product is from Texas anyway. According to Food & Wine, Garner Foods has until November 10 to respond. The company is investigating the claims, but for now, it seems they're in some really deep sauce.