Sonic

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Sonic

Basic information
Founded	18 June 1953
Legal Structure	Subsidiary
Industry	Food
Also known as
Official website	http://sonicdrivein.com/

Sonic is a fast food company founded in 1953.

Consumer impact summary

Overview of concerns that arise from the conduct towards users of the product (if applicable):

• User Freedom
• User Privacy
• Business Model
• Market Control

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Incidents

This is a list of all consumer-protection incidents this company is involved in. Any incidents not mentioned here can be found in the Sonic category.

Malware attack (2017)

Main article: link to the main CR Wiki article

On September 16, KrebonSecurity disclosed that Sonic suffered a data breach on its Point of sales systems, exposing an estimate 5 millions of customers financial information are being sold on a website called Joker’s Stash. A few days later, the blog got traction on social media, with major new outlets covering the leak. The company issued a public response on its website on October 4, acknowledging the breach and offering affected customers 24 months fraud protection until December 24, 2017.

The company faced 12 lawsuits from customers because of this incident, alleging the company's failure to implement up to date security practices and disclosing the incidents to customers. On October 2018, a $4.3 million settlement was reached. In May 2022, a $5.4 settlement was reached, requiring Sonic pay $3 million to reimburse financial institutions, and $1 or $1.50 for each payment card reissued or involved.

Plaintiff messages in Sonic 2020 lawsuit.

Sonic Spam Messages

2020 Lawsuit

On October 21, Plaintiff Danny Collins filed a class action lawsuit against Sonic, alleging the company repeatedly sent her advertising messages even after opting out by replying "Stop". The Plantiff seeks $500 or $1500 for each unsolicited marketing messages sent to consumers. As of March 2026, the case is still in progress.

2023 Lawsuit

On January 11, a customer from Florida filed a class action lawsuit over unsolicited marketing text sent by the company. Since July 1, 2021 till December 2022, the plaintiff received marketing messages without prior consent, with one of the messages reading;

Today only at SONIC: $0.99 Small Mozzarella Sticks! Deal

auto-applies in the app & at participating drive-ins 12/15. Lmt

5. +tax. Txt STOP to end

As of May 2026, the case is still in progress.

2025 Lawsuit

On March 4, a lawsuit was filed against Sonic for sending marketing text to customers without consent. The plaintiff claimed he was on the registry to not receive marketing text, however on March 6, 11, 13, 15, and 20, the company sent him marketing messages. Additionally, the plaintiff claims to have never had any business relationships with them. The lawsuit was dismissed on September 29, 2025.

Products

This is a list of the company's product lines with articles on this wiki.

• Example product line one (release date): Short summary of the product's incidents.
• Example product line two (release date):

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See also

• Subway
• Popeyes