Coca-Cola and Vitaminwater fraud

[virginjohn]

This is just staggering and makes me really angry (fortunately I never bought any of their crap):

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."

For the full story go here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-robbins/the-dark-side-of-vitaminw_b_669716.html

 

[FloridaGuy]

The orange one tastes like you're drinking a creamsicle. I'm addicted.

 

[xRiCeYx]

Wow! Thanks for posting this...Shit I just bought a case of it from Costco!!!

Well I know when you look at the sugar it's just as much as a soda but I would say 80% of ppl would still THINK VitaminWater would be better than a soda

 

[Big Dog Striker]

50 Cent, who used to own 10% of vitaminwater, turned out to be lucky as he was able to unload his shareholdings when Coca-Cola acquired Glaceau and made about $ 100 Million at the same time. In the first place, he was already lucky to be given 10% of the company in exchange for being their spokesperson. At least, he doesn't have to worry about any lawsuit. They might have some of the best law firms on retainer, I still think Coca-Cola will settle, bad PR if the lawsuit takes long.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

I don't drink that kind of stuff and any tv programming I do watch (very little) is online (sans advertising crap) so I'd never even heard of vitaminwater. Wondering.. Was it a big secret that Coca-Cola owned vitaminwater?


And not that I'm saying it's acceptable to do what they've done...but do you honestly expect a mass produced, inexpensive product that can be bought at 7eleven or any corner store, with advertising featuring all these (*ahem*not cheap) celebrities , to actually be healthy?


Again, I'm not saying it's a valid defense for Coca-Cola but I am really wondering how people would actually believe that a product with the aggressive marketing involved and all that comes with it (that it's owned by Coca-Cola!) would be. I don't think it's unreasonable but I do think it's gullible. With that said, I do believe it's wrong to mislead people who do trust what they see on tv or ads...children. (But that leads back to parents responsibility too...but anyway)



The dairy industry has been doing the same thing for decades. And the lies are told by doctors!...not athletes. Why is no one suing them?...they should. Because it is funded by the government, has powerful lobbying and is not just an evil corporation?


The dairy industry aggressively targets children to market dairy products, telling them they need it to be healthy (not just that it is a healthy drink, like vitaminwater - but that they need to drink milk and consume dairy products if they want to be healthy), when in reality it is responsible for an overwhelming amount of illnesses! It targets women, telling them they need to drink milk in order to have strong bones and not develop osteoporosis....when the reality is that consuming milk can cause osteoporosis!


So I agree this lawsuit may be good but coca-cola promoting this drink as healthy is not nearly as unethical, damaging or widespread as the lies told by the dairy industry.. I wish they'd sue them instead. If you have a chance, you should watch this video...it's pretty scary how far reality and truth are from what we're told, believe and what we trust. But worth watching:


[video=google;-2398866507129480161]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2398866507129480161#[/video]

 

[Man Mountain]

The orange one tastes like you're drinking a creamsicle. I'm addicted.

Mmmmm. Sounds good. Have you ever tried one of these?

If so, how does it compare?

 

[johnperb]

Whats wrong with water?

 

[perbies]

Whats wrong with water?

Nothing is wrong with Water, I drink my 8 cups a day with a cup of milk too.

But how do convince the majority of society who has been brainwashed through media or dietary habits to switch to a healthier alternative? It's no easy task but all I can say is don't drink/eat anything with high fructose corn syrup and obtain all your sugars through fruits.

 

[Miss*Bijou]

Nothing is wrong with Water, I drink my 8 cups a day with a cup of milk too.

But how do convince the majority of society who has been brainwashed through media or dietary habits to switch to a healthier alternative? It's no easy task but all I can say is don't drink/eat anything with high fructose corn syrup and obtain all your sugars through fruits.

Yes and that would leave most people with a confused look on their face because that's all they drink. Have you ever met someone who say they "don't like" water so hardly ever drinks it? Kids who almost always only drink juice? Or who's first meal of the day is basically just a major sugar high (ie sugar packaged as cereal especially "for kids") with, of course, the ensuing "crash" (right in time for school when they're supposed to be learning)?


There's no excuse.. The info is out there, everywhere, and people just have to listen and read it! If not for them, then at least for the sake of their kids, who are addicted to sugar (and caffeine) as soon as they are off breast milk.



Last year I was hanging out with my friend's son, who was about 8-9 years old and we walked into a corner store (actually, it was a depanneur since we were in Montreal..but anyway ) to get a drink and I told him he could choose one for himself. He was looking at Gatorade for a couple minutes but was hesitating.


I figured he was indecisive because of all the different choices but when I asked him, he told me (very seriously) that he wasn't sure he should get gatorade because "that stuff's full of sugar". He told me his parents do not usually allow him to drink that....he's only allowed very occasionally. We talked some more and he finally decided he'd get it and that would be his occasional sugar-filled drink treat. I have to say I was pretty impressed.


So really.... If an 8 year old kid can figure out what kinds of drinks are filled with sugar and not good for him, I think any adult should be able to do at least the same....and then teach it to their kids. There's really no excuse for people being unaware of these well known, well reported, important health facts, especially when it concerns their kids.



One thing my friends have managed to escape, at least for the most part, is the bombardment of aggressive marketing targeting kids any time they turn the tv on, which for most kids is many hours per week. He watches very little tv programming at home and when he does, it's downloaded from the internet. Therefore he doesn't get the 20minutes+ out of the hour of pure advertising, lots of which is for high sugar foods or drinks, drilled into his brain like a lot of kids do.


There are other ways for companies to reach kids with their marketing so I'm sure he's still getting some of it and isn't completely immune to the messages aimed at turning kids into consumption addicts.



I think any kind of aggressive marketing specifically targeting kids should be illegal. And I think parents have no excuse and cannot claim ignorance about basic stuff like high sugar foods/drinks their kids are consuming. If they're not teaching their kids those important skills and what's needed to make informed dietary choices, then they're letting their kids down and failing them as a parent in a big way.