A California-based attorney is apparently considering filing a class action lawsuit against Gerber on behalf of consumers purportedly misled by the company’s promotions for its baby food products. According to Ronald Marron, “Gerber claims that NutriProtect™ is ‘Nutrition for Healthy Growth & Natural Immune Support.’ But a close review of the ingredients, in tiny letters on the back, reveals that NutriProtect™ advertising is deceptive, leading parents to believe the Products are healthier and more nutritious than they actually are.” Marron claims that some of the products “contain high amounts of sugar, salt, and high fructose corn syrup.” He also indicates that Gerber is adding substances such as DHA to its products at a price premium, when parents could simply add a few drops of tuna oil to their baby’s food to obtain the same purported health effects. Also cited as a questionable practice is the company’s addition of prebiotics and…
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A U.K.-based public interest charity has filed 54 separate complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) contending that the subject companies, including Cadbury and Pringles, are promoting food products high in sugars, fat or salt to children online. Described by the Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) as a “super complaint,” the case reflects the findings of a report the charity released in December 2011 claiming that food advertisers use brand characters, animations, games, competitions, and videos online and through social media to heavily market junk food to children. It calls for the U.K. government to close a loophole allowing ads for products that cannot be aired during children’s programming to be freely promoted online. According to CFC spokesperson Malcolm Clark, youth marketing standards applicable to TV should be matched online. The existing code apparently states, “marketing communications must not condone or encourage poor nutritional habits or an unhealthy lifestyle in children.”…
U.S. Representative Scott DesJarlais (D-Tenn.) has introduced a bill (H.R. 3848) that would prohibit federal money from being used in any advertising campaign “against the use of a food or beverage that is lawfully marketed under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.” DesJarlais told a news source that the legislation, titled the “Protecting Foods and Beverages from Government Attack Act of 2012,” responds to New York City’s recent anti-obesity ad campaign featuring a poster of a diabetic man with an amputated leg with the tagline, “Cut Your Portions, Cut Your Risk.” DesJarlais claims the campaign encouraging subway riders to reduce their portions of food and sugary drinks was funded with federal stimulus money targeted for anti-obesity efforts. “Our top priority should be restarting the economy and creating jobs—not funding scare campaigns against perfectly safe and legal products,” he said in a press release. “At a time when our nation faces…
The Association of National Advertisers’ 2012 Advertising Law & Public Policy Conference will reportedly target how best “to navigate today’s complex marketing landscape and remain on the cutting edge in an ever-challenging legal and regulatory environment.” Slated for March 28-29, 2012, in Washington, D.C., the conference will include sessions on (i) global views of online behavioral advertising and self regulation, (ii) coping with changes in class-action law, (iii) expectations from the U.S. Supreme Court, (iv) “how the long arm of criminal law is increasingly reaching into marketers’ boardrooms and impacting in-house counsel,” and (v) key issues facing federal agencies.
The National Advertising Division (NAD®) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has reportedly determined that while Gerber Products Co. can justify certain of its baby food advertising claims, others should be modified or discontinued. Competitor Beech-Nut apparently challenged claims pertaining to Gerber’s “Graduates” product line before the industry self-regulatory body. Among other matters, NAD® found that “unique and innovative” claims were substantiated, and that Gerber could continue to make two exclusivity claims: “Only Graduates Lil’ Entrees is designed just for toddlers, with protein, grains, and a side of veggies . . . [o]f items in the Baby Aisle” and Gerber Graduates Healthy Meals are “The only meals designed for preschoolers with protein and a full serving of veggies.” NAD® took issue, however, with “the message conveyed by Gerber’s TV commercials for its Fruit & Veggie Melts. This commercial features a voiceover that claims, ‘the Gerber generation is making their fruit…
A recent report issued by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and Children’s Food Campaign (CFC) has described online food marketing to children as “pervasive,” with more than 75 percent of websites targeting children with high fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) products “linked to a corresponding product or brand page on a social networking site” such as Facebook or Twitter. Titled “The 21st century gingerbread house: How companies are marketing junk food to children online,” the report concluded that 80 percent of 100 food brand websites analyzed between April and July 2011 did not meet the Food Standard Agency’s nutrient profiling standards for advertising during children’s TV programming. In particular, the report highlighted the use of (i) “bespoke websites which appeal to children through the use of language intended for, spoken by or directly to children”; (ii) “brand characters, cartoons and animations which are enormously popular with children”; (iii) “free gifts including…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity recently published a study claiming that “children are disproportionately targeted by food company Websites using branded computer games, known as advergames,” which allegedly promote “calorie-dense nutrient-poor foods.” Jennifer Harris, et al., “US Food Company Branded Advergames on the Internet: Children’s exposure and effects on snack consumption,” Journal of Children and Media, November 2011. According to the study’s abstract, Rudd Center researchers found that 1.2 million children visit food company advergame sites every month and that “playing these games increases children’s consumption of junk food.”
Seeking to certify a nationwide settlement class, excluding California consumers, in litigation against the company that makes the hazelnut spread Nutella®, two named plaintiffs alleging deceptive product marketing have filed their brief in support of preliminary approval of a class settlement. In re: Nutella Mktg. & Sales Practices Litig., No. 11-1086 (D.N.J., brief filed January 10, 2012). According to the plaintiffs, the company has agreed to cease the advertising at issue, begin a revised and corrective labeling and advertising campaign, change its website, and establish a $2.5 million settlement fund. Under the proposed agreement, settlement class members could submit claims for $4 per jar purchased during the class period and recover up to a maximum of $20. Nutella would also apparently agree not to oppose class counsel fees less than $3 million. According to the plaintiffs’ brief, similar litigation pending in California is also being settled. Twelve named plaintiffs in four…
A federal court in California has entered an order certifying a class in consolidated lawsuits alleging that the company which produces Nutella® falsely advertises its product as healthy and beneficial to children despite making the hazelnut spread with “dangerous levels of fat and sugar.” In re Ferrero Litig., No. 11-205 (S.D. Cal., decided November 15, 2011). The court limited the class to California consumers, agreeing with the defendant that California law could not be applied to the claims of non-California class members who neither saw the advertisements nor purchased the product in the state. Because the defendant is a Delaware corporation that does business from its New Jersey headquarters and the product is made in Canada, the non-California class members would also have been unable to show that their claims arose out of conduct that occurred in California. The court refused to certify an 11-year class, noting that nationwide TV ads for…
Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity has issued an October 2011 report claiming that “young people are exposed to a massive amount of marketing for sugar drinks.” Titled Sugary Drink F.A.C.T.S.: Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score, the report apparently analyzes “600 products from 14 companies that contain added sugar,” including full-calorie soda, energy drinks and diet energy drinks, flavored water, sports drinks, iced tea, and diet children’s fruit juices. Researchers also reviewed traditional, digital and in-store marketing, as well as collected data on media exposure and spending from syndicated sources such as Nielsen, comScore Inc. and Arbitron Inc. In particular, the Rudd Center alleges that industry pledges to market fewer sweetened beverages to children have not curbed advertising for these products. Among its key findings, the report concludes that (i) “More than half of sugary drinks and energy drinks market positive ingredients on their packages, and…
