According to a news source, the Council of Better Business Bureau’s National Advertising Division (NAD) has determined that Anheuser Busch promotions for Michelob ULTRA Light Cider® comply with Food and Drug Administration definitions and guidelines. The company apparently claims that the product has one-third fewer calories than its competitors, and the ad industry’s self-regulatory investigative unit “determined that the advertiser had provided a reasonable basis for the claim.” NAD considered the product’s calorie content, the calorie content of other leading hard ciders and their market share, as well as whether the brewer’s claim provided “meaningful and accurate information to consumers.” The company was reportedly “pleased with NAD’s decision.” See Law360, February 5, 2013.
Tag Archives advertising
General Mills has agreed to establish an $8.5 million fund to settle claims that it falsely advertised its Yo-Plus yogurt as a product that helped naturally regulate “digestive health.” Johnson v. General Mills, Inc., No. 10-61 (C.D. Cal., stipulation of settlement filed February 4, 2013). If the court approves the agreement, purchasers throughout the United States will be able to seek $4 for each unit of Yo-Plus purchased, and any unclaimed funds will be distributed to the National Consumer Law Center and Mayo Clinic. The company apparently no longer sells the products. The costs of class notice and administration, attorney’s fees and incentive awards for plaintiffs in several related class lawsuits will be deducted from the settlement fund. Recovery will be capped at 13 units of Yo-Plus yogurt per claimant, unless proof of purchase for more units purchased during the class period can be shown. A hearing for preliminary approval…
The U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has declined to uphold five complaints alleging that a TV commercial for Weetabix Ltd.’s Weetos breakfast cereal promoted “poor nutritional habits and an unhealthy lifestyle in children, because… it encouraged excessive consumption.” According to ASA, the ad in question showed a child eating Weetos for breakfast and later in the day as a snack, with the product’s tagline stating “FOR BREAKFAST AND BEYOND.” Rebutting the allegations, Weetabix reportedly said that “the ad was lighthearted but did not encourage excessive consumption” or poor nutritional habits, especially since the cereal advertised was “not a high fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) product as defined by the Food Standards Agency.” The company also argued that the portions shown in the commercial were consistent with marketing conventions and standards, as well as research indicating that consumers often ate Weetos for snacks and meals other than breakfast. “[Weetabix] considered that…
Dutch social and political science professors have presented a case study on marketing a functional food in the European Union (EU) to demonstrate that nontextual marketing, which the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is apparently ill-equipped to regulate, plays a larger role in consumer purchasing decisions than textual product messages. Herman Lelieveldt and Cris Boonen, “EU Health Claims Regulation and the Marketing of Functional Foods: A Regulatory Void?,” 3 European Journal of Risk Regulation 577 (2012). They considered a marketing campaign for Optimel Control®, a yogurt drink first launched in the Netherlands in 2007 with great success but later withdrawn after expansion to other countries due to insufficient sales volume. It contained an ingredient that EFSA ruled in 2011 was not effective to control or manage weight. According to the study, the textual health claims constituted “a relatively small element in conveying the ‘stay in control’ message of Optimel Control.” Those claims,…
In an effort to combat marketing to children, a Washington, D.C.-based organic grocer has stopped stocking products whose packaging features cartoon characters from books, movies and TV programs. According to a MOM’s Organic Market news release, products such as Dora the Explorer frozen soybeans will be replaced with alternatives in cartoon-free packaging. “Marketing to children is wrong and should be illegal,” said MOM’s founder and CEO Scott Nash. “Advertising is a shady game. It focuses on creating a shallow emotional attachment instead of pointing out the merits of a product. Unfortunately, it works—and young children are particularly susceptible.” “Using beloved media characters to sell kids on a particular brand of food is wrong, even if it’s healthy food,” said Susan Linn, Director of the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood. “Children should not be trained to pick foods based on the cartoon on the box. We congratulate MOM’s for taking…
As consumers around the world have begun posting images online of their Subway “footlong” sandwiches with rulers showing that the restaurant’s offerings are actually 11 or 11.5 inches in length, several have taken their claims to court. Buren v. Doctor’s Assocs., Inc., No. 13 498 (N.D. Ill., filed January 22, 2013); Pendrak v. Subway Sandwich Shops, Inc., No. ___ (N.J. Super. Ct., filed January 22, 2013). Plaintiff Nguyen Buren filed his lawsuit in a federal court in Chicago, claiming that his sandwich was less than 11 inches long and alleging a “pattern of fraudulent, deceptive and otherwise improper advertising, sales and marketing practices.” New Jersey residents John Farley and Charles Pendrak allege in state court, “Despite the repeated use of uniform language by Subway stating that this sandwich is a ‘footlong,’ the product in question is not, in fact, a foot long. Rather this product consistently measures significantly less than…
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a final decision in a complaint alleging that POM Wonderful made false and misleading claims by advertising its pomegranate juice products with health-benefit assertions that the company contended were backed by medical research. In re POM Wonderful LLC, No. 9344 (FTC, decided January 10, 2013). Additional information about the matter appears in Issue 441 of this Update. Henceforth, two randomized, controlled clinical trials (RCTs) will be required before POM can make a claim that any of its products treat, prevent or reduce the risk of heart disease, prostate cancer or erectile dysfunction (ED). Any efficacy or health benefit claims falling short of disease claims will require substantiation consisting of “competent and reliable scientific evidence . . . that must be sufficient in quality and quantity when considered in the light of the entire body of relevant and reliable scientific evidence, to substantiate that the…
The Council of Better Business Bureaus’ National Advertising Division (NAD) has reportedly decided to review “no crash later” claims made by Living Essentials LLC about its caffeinated energy supplement 5-Hour Energy® after The New York Times published a January 2, 2013, article questioning the scientific evidence behind such assertions. According to media sources, NAD ruled in 2007 that Living Essentials could not support its unequivocal “no crash” claims, even though its product evidently causes less of an energy level reduction than beverages made by its competitors. As a result, Living Essentials modified its labeling to include an asterisk on its “no crash later” declaration, but NAD has apparently advised the company to drop the claim altogether or submit to a compliance review. See Law360, January 3, 2013. The claim now facing NAD scrutiny also caught the attention of Times writer Barry Meier, who noted that energy drink manufacturers demand premium prices…
A California resident has filed a putative class action against General Mills, Inc. alleging that two of its frozen vegetable “steamers” products are falsely advertised as “100% Natural” because they contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients. Cox v. General Mills, Inc., No. 12-6377 (N.D. Cal., filed December 17, 2012). According to the complaint, the products contain GM corn, soy, corn derivatives, and/or soy derivatives. Seeking to certify a statewide class of those who have purchased Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers®, the plaintiff alleges violations of California’s False Advertising and Unfair Competition laws and the California Consumers Legal Remedies Act. She requests injunctive relief; restitution; disgorgement; actual, statutory and punitive damages; attorney’s fees; costs; and interest.
Researchers with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and University of Kansas Medical Center have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map brain responses to food logos in obese and healthy-weight children. Amanda Bruce, et al., “Brain Responses to Food Logos in Obese and Health Weight Children,” Journal of Pediatrics, November 2012. According to the study, 10 healthy-weight children and 10 obese children completed “self-report measures of self-control” and then underwent fMRI while viewing 60 food and 60 nonfood logos. The results purportedly indicated that, when viewing food logos, “obese children showed significantly less brain activation than the healthy weight children in regions associated with cognitive control.” Obese children also apparently demonstrated “greater activation in reward regions when shown food logos compared with baseline blurred images,” although the researchers “did not find significantly greater brain activation in the OFC [orbitofrontal cortex] or ventral striatum, which have been identified in previous food…
