Coca-Cola Vitaminwater ad banned
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Coca-Cola has been censured for the second time in 18 months for “misleading” health claims made about its Vitaminwater brand.
A poster ad for Vitaminwater stated “enhanced hydration for the nation” above the range of drinks with the words “delicious and nutritious” below.
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld complaints on the grounds that the claim the product was “nutritious” was misleading and has advised Coca-Cola the ad should not appear again in its current form.
The ASA said consumers could be misled by the ad into thinking Vitaminwater was a “nutritious” drink, but most people would not expect a nutritious drink to have “the equivalent of four or five teaspoons of added sugar”.
In response, Coca-Cola said the product could be described as “nutritious” because it contained nutritionally meaningful quantities of several nutrients and 100% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C.
It said these quantities were line with the dictionary definition of “nutritious” which states “containing many of the substances needed for life and growth” and “providing substances that people need in order to be healthy”.
The ASA banned a campaign for Vitaminwater in October 2009 after ruling that claims about the health and nutritional value of the drink were likely to mislead consumers.
Readers' comments (4)
Anonymous | Wed, 19 Jan 2011 12:18 pm
It really is about time the ASA understood the meaning of words and grammer.
Nutritous is an adjective, meaning:
providing nourishment, esp. to a high degree; nourishing; healthful: a good, nutritious meal.
So are the ASA suggesting without VitC in our healthy diet we wouldn't get scurvy!
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Norman MacLeod | Wed, 19 Jan 2011 1:38 pm
Very true. Anonymous should also take note that 'GrammAr' is defined as 'the branch of linguistics that deals with syntax and morphology (and sometimes also deals with semantics) whereas 'grammEr' is the Kelsey guy wot played the part of Frasier ... :-) (D'OH!)
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Chris Arnold | Wed, 19 Jan 2011 11:09 pm
Funny how history repeats itself. In 2009 The ASA comments were exactly the same. When it comes to ethics you just can't con people. Be honest and you'll sell more. Look what happened to Sunny D, the great con drink of all time. The truth will always find you. Today's consumers are getting more ethical and more savvy.
Chris Arnold, author, Ethical Marketing & The New Consumer.
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Sarah Hooper | Thu, 20 Jan 2011 10:13 pm
This is quite disappointing. Here at IUVO Marketing, we will be the first to put our hands up and admit that we thought Vitamin Water was truly nutritious and good. But after reading what the ASA has told Coca-Cola then we will be reluctant to purchase this anymore. Although we understand that Vitamin Water is owned by Coca-Cola, in terms of health we thought that Vitamin Water would break the mould and actually be a healthy drink. Maybe we will now give V-Water a go instead.
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