The TL;DR (i read the the thing on classaction.org)
Kraft says their single serve cups are ready in 3.5 minutes total. True, it take 3.5 minutes to microwave the cup, but there's more prep time and the instructions call for more ingredients, such as water. There's also the additional time it take to stir in the cheese powder. So in actuality, it could take closer to 5-6 minutes (estimating here).
Because Kraft is selling the speed and convenience of the single serve, it's sold at a premium (11 bucks for an 8 pack, excluding tax, which yowza!), which is much higher than similar products that, in reality, would take as much time to prepare as the Velveeta.
Like I can't speak for everyone but I see those Velveeta cups at the grocery store and they're more expensive than even the other Kraft single serves, and you just know it's not because of the Velveeta powder.
This is a class action lawsuit. The plaintiff isn't getting all 5 million, it'll go to everyone who is *COPD with chronic bronchitis ad voice* entitled to financial compensation.
The firm representing the plaintiff specializes in cases like this, which also includes cases such as Frito-Lay lying about not using real lime in their "hint of lime" Tostito chips (so they can charge more), Kellogg lying about how much fruit they (don't) put in their fruit pop-tarts in spite of the advertising (so they can charge more), the use of synthetic vanilla in premium goods claiming to have real vanilla (so they can charge more), and, oh yeah, arsenic in baby food.
If you're wondering why this matters, consider that this isn't a MRE. It needs prep, not just in time but in additional ingredients, which would be damned inconvenient at best if, say, you didn't have access to water. This, and the time issue, is, in a very real sense, false advertising. It stands to reason that Kraft made a decent profit off this false advertising.
In a similar vein (see: "hint of lime" chips not having lime but a vaguely defined "natural flavoring"), it's about truth in the advertised product, and that the company knew it was lying to its customers. Like if Special K isn't putting real blueberries in its cereal (just pineapple and blue dye), but advertising the cereal as having those blueberries, what happens if a kid allergic to pineapple, or allergic to the dye used, eats the cereal and has a reaction? What if there's no water to make the damn macaroni and cheese?
Cases like this give the more serious cases (ARSENIC. BABY FOOD.) more of a legal foothold.
You can't really say "burn corporations to the ground" or "lol kill jeff bezos" and in that same breath call the plaintiff a stupid Karen or whatever for calling out the obvious bullshit Kraft is pulling here. Those single serve cups are freaking expensive for what you get and are sold at a markup because they promise a convenience that they don't actually deliver on.
