The Dark Side of Vitaminwater

[onehandle]

Now here's something you wouldn't expect. Coca-Cola is being sued by a non-profit public interest group, on the grounds that the company's vitaminwater products make unwarranted health claims. No surprise there. But how do you think the company is defending itself?

In a staggering feat of twisted logic, lawyers for Coca-Cola are defending the lawsuit by asserting that "no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage."

Does this mean that you'd have to be an unreasonable person to think that a product named "vitaminwater," a product that has been heavily and aggressively marketed as a healthy beverage, actually had health benefits? Or does it mean that it's okay for a corporation to lie about its products, as long as they can then turn around and claim that no one actually believes their lies?

In fact, the product is basically sugar-water, to which about a penny's worth of synthetic vitamins have been added. And the amount of sugar is not trivial. A bottle of vitaminwater contains 33 grams of sugar, making it more akin to a soft drink than to a healthy beverage.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robbins/the-dark-side-of-vitaminw_b_669716.html

On edit: This ad clearly leads consumers to believe that Vitaminwater is healthy.




Vitaminwater is a gigantic scam to keep us hooked on sugar water. Believe it.

[no_hypocrisy]

1. Perhaps the name "Vitaminwater" is ironic like "vegetable chips".

[tridim]

2. I bet they win because it's spelled "Vitaminwater" and not "Vitamin Water"

They coined a new word that doesn't mean a thing.

[AnArmyVeteran]

3. That glass full of pills looks like Limblah's meals.

[MilesColtrane]

4. Previous discussion here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8885508

[stray cat]

5. Marketing to stupid people - maybe people should get more informed for a change?

instead of only blaming others for their stupidity or ignorance

[Vinnie From Indy]

6. Really?

By implication you appear to be offering that corporations have no responsibility to tell the truth about their products. Is this view kind of a "P.T. Barnum" outlook on capitalism? I guess you are OK with tobacco companies deliberately marketing to children to get them addicted early to their deadly products. The little bastards should have known better.

[customerserviceguy]

7. I agree

Succumbing to silly-ass marketing ploys for overpriced, underperforming crap makes me think a bit less of some of my fellow citizens from time to time. Educating yourself that you can't get nutritional needs met by a sugar-water beverage sold by a soda pop company is essential to better living.

[krabigirl]

8. I agree. Or people could start reading labels.