On May 20, 2026, in Zelma v. Wonder Group Inc. (D.N.J. May 20, 2026), a federal court in New Jersey largely dismissed Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) claims against food-tech company Wonder Group Inc. (Wonder), holding that two bare verification-code text messages were not “telephone solicitations” or “unsolicited advertisements.”
The TCPA regulates certain calls and text messages, including telemarketing and unsolicited advertising. Here, a pro se plaintiff sued Wonder after receiving two text messages, each containing only a Wonder verification code. The plaintiff alleged that he had never heard of Wonder, had not asked for communications from the company, and had listed his cell number on federal and state do-not-call registries since 2003. He argued that the messages were not innocent authentication texts, but a way to push him toward Wonder’s website and services.
The court had previously dismissed several claims but allowed the plaintiff to amend some TCPA theories. In his amended complaint, he reasserted claims based on the National Do-Not-Call Registry and the alleged absence of opt-out language in the texts. Wonder again moved to dismiss those counts, and on May 20, the court granted the motion with prejudice.
The court’s TCPA analysis turned on a simple question: Were the verification-code texts “telephone solicitations” or “unsolicited advertisements? The court explained that a telephone solicitation must encourage the purchase or rental of goods or services, while an unsolicited advertisement must advertise the commercial availability or quality of goods or services. Applying Third Circuit authority, the court held that the texts in this case did neither because they did not promote goods or services, identify anything for sale, or even include Wonder’s website.
The plaintiff’s “trojan horse” theory also failed. The court rejected the idea that a bare verification code could become advertising merely because the recipient might search for Wonder online afterward. That conclusion meant that the do-not-call and opt-out claims at issue required a sufficiently pleaded advertising or solicitation theory. For companies engaging in SMS marketing, the decision is useful but narrow. Authentication and verification texts may be easier to defend when they are content-neutral, contain no marketing language, and include no links or promotional cues. The opinion also reinforces that plaintiffs cannot convert every unexpected brand communication into a TCPA advertising claim without facts showing a commercial message.