In an appeal from a National Advertising Division investigation initiated by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a National Advertising Review Board (NARB) panel has recommended that Blue Buffalo Co. cease implying that other pet food manufacturers are “fooling” their customers on pet food nutrition. They found that the message of “fooling” was expressly or impliedly in several of Blue Buffalo’s advertisements without support. In addition, the NARB panel recommended that Blue Buffalo change its “True BLUE Test” chart on its website because it “reasonably conveyed the inaccurate message that the absence of checkmarks for a manufacturer meant that all of that manufacturer’s pet food products had specified ‘undesirable’ ingredients and none of that manufacturer’s pet food products has specified ‘desirable’ products.” The chart includes lines indicating that a brand’s products either always or never contain particular ingredients, and NARB found that the phrasing, though accurate, could imply inaccurate information to consumers. For…
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The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus’ Advertising Self-Regulatory Council (ASRC) has recommended that Chobani, Inc. cease airing what it called “Farmland” commercials, “the centerpiece of the company’s campaign to promote its ‘Simply 100’ Greek yogurt.” A rival yogurt company challenged a number of Chobani TV ads that “featured two ‘farm’ settings—a synthetic farm where ‘other 100-calorie yogurts’ were made from the contents of test tubes and plastic cows were filled with powdered chemicals and a real farm with boxes of fresh fruit and live cows.” While the ads did not name other yogurt makers or products, the challenger contended that the message conveyed was that its products do not contain real fruit; they are made with fake milk or milk with chemical additives; its Greek yogurt is “entirely artificial, and unwholesome, unhealthful, and/or harmful to consumers”; and Chobani’s product is the best-tasting 100-calorie Greek…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dismissed complaints challenging print and TV advertisements that tout Tesco-brand milk as fairly priced and responsibly sourced. In particular, the complaints alleged that (i) “the image of cows in an open field did not accurately represent how the milk was produced or the conditions in which the cows lived” and (ii) only a small proportion of Tesco’s milk was sourced through the Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG). According to ASA, Tesco countered that all of its core milk suppliers must meet industry Red Tractor standards as well as Tesco’s own Livestock Code of Practice, which focuses on food safety, environmental indicators and “welfare outcome measures such as lameness, mastitis, fertility, and animal health.” The retailer also reiterated that core farmers with TSDG “supplied approximately 80% of Tesco’s total milk requirements over the course of the year,” while seasonal farmers provided additional milk during…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has dismissed a competitor’s complaint alleging that Unilever UK Ltd.’s commercial for its pyramid-shaped teabags “exaggerated the capability and performance of the advertised product.” Tata Global Beverages reportedly argued that (i) the visual demonstration used in a TV commercial for PG Tips tea was misleading, (ii) Unilever’s claim that “the tea has more room to move freeing the great fresh taste” could not be substantiated, and (iii) “the comparison with a round teabag denigrated Tata’s brand ‘Tetley’ because they believed that they were an identifiable competitor and that the ad portrayed the brand in a negative light.” According to ASA, Unilever not only countered that the visual demonstration in question “imitated consumer behavior when making tea,” but noted that the claims reflected the results of product testing and mathematical modeling supplied to ASA for review. Denying that the ad made a direct comparison to…
The Food Marketing Workgroup (FMW) has sent a July 16, 2014, letter to Kraft Foods Group, Inc., questioning how the company purportedly markets its Lunchables product line to children. Signed by Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity Director of Marketing Initiatives Jennifer Harris and Center for Science in the Public Interest Director of Nutrition Policy Margo Wootan, the letter cites a recent Rudd Center report alleging that just five out of 42 Lunchables meet nutrition standards under the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI). In particular, FMW claims that even though Kraft restricts its child-directed advertising to only those products that comply with CFBAI, the use of sweepstakes offers, in-store displays and other tactics could still contravene industry guidelines. “In the supermarket, less nutritious versions of Lunchables outnumber the healthier ones by six to one, and the healthier varieties are most likely to be stocked on the top…
The state attorneys general (AGs) of Oregon, Vermont and Washington have reportedly filed separate lawsuits against Living Essentials and its parent Innovation Ventures seeking a permanent injunction to stop allegedly misleading and deceptive advertising for 5-hour ENERGY®. According to news sources, other state AGs are expected to bring similar action; some 30 have been investigating the accuracy of company ads for the product. Washington AG Bob Ferguson has alleged that the defendants violated the state consumer protection statute by (i) airing TV commercials with “survey results” from doctors who “recommend” the product “while misrepresenting survey results and failing to disclose key facts”; (ii) using a misleading “no sugar crash” product tagline given studies demonstrating a caffeine crash; (iii) implying that the product can be consumed by teens with the label statement, “Do not take if you are pregnant or nursing, or under 12 years of age”; and (iv) claiming that the…
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the settlement of class actions alleging consumer fraud in ads portraying Nutella as a healthy breakfast food. In re Ferrero Litigation, No. 12-56469 (9th Cir., decided July 16, 2014) (unpublished). Three members of the certified statewide class objected to the settlement, which provided $550,000 to reimburse class members, required ad-campaign and product-labeling revisions and awarded $985,920 in attorney’s fees. The objectors claimed inadequate notice of the attorney’s fee request, lack of justification or explanation for the fee award and the district court’s failure to consider whether class counsel adequately represented the class. The court found no basis for the objections, noting in part that the district court properly applied the lodestar method to the attorney’s fee calculation and that no indicia of collusion were present. Issue 530
The Mexican Ministry of Health has reportedly announced new restrictions on food and beverage advertisements aired during TV programs and movies viewed by children. Part of its National Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Overweight, Obesity and Diabetes, the new rules will prohibit the marketing of sugar-sweetened beverages, snacks, confectionery, and chocolate on both terrestrial and cable television from 2:30 to 7:30 p.m. during the week and from 7:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on weekends. Eliminating 40 percent of ads across these four product categories, the strategy will also ban these promotions in movies rated A or AA, which covers those targeted at all ages. See Ministry of Health Press Release and BBC News, July 15, 2014. Issue 530
A recent study asserts that even when children’s TV programs are free of product advertisements, they still include positive cues for unhealthy food and beverages. Paul Scully, et al., “Food and beverage cues in UK and Irish children-television programming,” Archives of Disease in Childhood, July 2014. Researchers with the University of Limerick Graduate Entry Medical School apparently analyzed 85.2 hours of primetime children’s programming that aired over five weekdays on two national public broadcast channels. Of the 1,155 food and beverage cues recorded, 47.5 percent represented unhealthy foods and 25 percent represented sugary drinks. Sweet snacks (13.3 percent) and confectionery/candy (11.4 percent) were the most common food cues, while tea and coffee (13.5 percent) and sugar-sweetened drinks (13 percent) were the most common beverage cues. In addition, the study’s authors noted that individual food or beverage cues were portrayed neutrally 47.5 percent of the time, positively 32.6 percent of the…
A new study has reportedly concluded that “the more a child is familiar with logos and other images from fast-food restaurants, sodas and not-so-healthy snack food brands, the more likely a child is to be overweight or obese.” T. Bettina Cornwell, “Children’s knowledge of packaged and fast food brands and their BMI: Why the relationship matters for policy makers,” Appetite, July 2014. According to a recent press release, researchers found that among two groups of children aged 3 to 5 years, the preschoolers best able to match pictures of food items, packaging and cartoon characters with the corresponding logos were more likely to have higher body mass indexes (BMIs) than those with little knowledge of food and beverage brands. In particular, the study noted that only in one group of children did exercise appear to mitigate this association. “The inconsistency across studies tells us that physical activity should not be…
