Vitaminwater VS Activia Yogurt
Verdict DROP IT DROP IT
The Reality When consumers sued Coca-Cola in 2009 over these claims, the company's own legal defense -- raised in its motion to dismiss -- was that 'no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.' US District Court Judge John Gleeson rejected that defense in July 2010, ruling that naming the product 'vitaminwater' and its flavors 'energy,' 'revive,' and 'defense' has 'the potential to reinforce a consumer's mistaken belief that the product is composed of only vitamins and water,' and largely denied Coca-Cola's motion to dismiss the case. The FTC's investigation, conducted jointly with 39 state Attorneys General, found that 8 of the 10 scientific studies Dannon relied on actually showed no statistically significant effect of Activia on digestive transit time compared to a placebo. Dannon settled with the FTC in 2011, agreeing to stop using the specific words 'clinically' and 'scientifically proven' in favor of softer language like 'clinical studies show,' and to stop claiming any cold- or flu-prevention benefit unless the FDA approved that specific message. Separately, a parallel consumer class action resulted in Dannon paying up to $45 million in damages, and the FTC settlement included a simultaneous $21 million settlement with the 39 states.
SHORT ANSWER
Vitaminwater: Coca-Cola's own legal defense against a 2009 lawsuit over vitaminwater's health claims argued that no reasonable consumer should have believed the product was healthy in the first place -- and a federal judge ruled the product's own naming and flavor names could still mislead people into thinking it was.
Activia Yogurt: The FTC's investigation, joined by 39 state Attorneys General, found 8 of 10 studies Dannon cited for Activia's 'clinically proven' digestive claims showed no significant effect versus a placebo, resulting in a 2011 settlement and a separate $45 million consumer class-action payout.