There’s a fine line between selling a product by hyping up its merits and outright deception, and it’s amazing what people will believe when its being told to them by attractive people using flashy special effects or large capital letters.
Sometimes this goes too far. Consider the following quote taken from Time:
According to CSPI nutritionists, Vitaminwater’s sugar content more than offsets any advertised health benefits provided by the nutrients in the drink. “They added vitamins to crap,” says Stephen Gardner, chief litigator for CSPI. “And it’s still crap. Consumers shouldn’t have to assume that the front of a label is a lie. You cannot deceive in the big print and tell the truth later.”
Judge John Gleeson of the U.S. District Court in Brooklyn…thinks Coke could be violating the so-called jellybean rule, which says…a sugar product is a sugar product: you can’t say a jellybean fights heart disease because it contains no cholesterol.
“The potential for confusion is heightened,” Gleeson wrote, “by the presence of other statements in Vitaminwater’s labeling, such as the description of the product as a ‘vitamin enhanced water beverage’ and the phrases ‘vitamins + water + all you need’ and ‘vitamins + water = what’s in your hand’ which have the potential to reinforce a consumer’s mistaken belief that the product is comprised of only vitamins and water.”
Coke responded to the judge’s ruling in a statement. “Vitaminwater is a great tasting, hydrating beverage with essential vitamins and water — and labels clearly showing ingredients and calorie content,” the company said.
So, the crux of the matter is deciding if it’s legal to essentially lie to people who believe that the name of a product should be consistent with its contents. I think Coke’s defense is particularly entertaining, as it could conceivably be used to justify calling a Moon Pie a “whole-grain bread product” despite a whopping 400% daily sugar and fat content rating.
If Coke wins their countersuit, I’m looking forward to seeing other exciting new products such as the Twix Energy Bar and the BaskinRobins Internal Cooling Cream.
It’ll be a brave new world.
Mistopia: Post-Collegiate America 
Interesting to know. Most of us fall for this kind of advertising w/o looking into the exact ingredients or researching the product. I’m going to link to your blog at http;//chairtaichi.wordpress.com
Sadly it’s becoming very common for people to just assume food/drink products are what they seem – which is weird considering how skeptical we’ve become about almost everything else. Thanks for reading!