The Coca–Cola advert that labelled their drink Vitamin Water as nutritious, has been banned.
The Advertising Standards Authority deemed the poster for Vitamin Water misleading because each of the 500ml bottles contains more than 30g of sugar – the equivalent of four to five teaspoons, and about a quarter of a consumer’s recommended daily amount.
Meanwhile Coca-Cola says that the drink in fact contains 23g of sugar per 500ml – “a significantly lower amount” compared to the number stated by The Advertising Standards.
Celebrities promote Coca-Cola on Twitter
South Africa’s Coca-Cola territory
The poster campaign included the slogan “enhanced hydration for the nation – delicious and nutritious”.
And although the drink appears to be high in sugar, Coca-Cola argues that their product still should be described as nutritious since it contains “nutritionally meaningful quantities of several nutrients, including 25% of the recommended daily allowance of four B vitamins along with 100% of the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C”.
The advertising watchdog said that they believed that consumers would recognise the word ‘nutritious’ as something that were “needed by the body in order to stay healthy”.
“However, we considered that they would not expect a ‘nutritious’ drink to have the equivalent of four or five teaspoons of added sugar,” the The Advertising Standards Authority said.
Therefore it was decided that the wording of the advert had to be banned, dismissing it as “misleading”.
A spokeswoman for Coca-Cola told media that the company was “disappointed” with the verdict.
She also defended the wording that labelled the drink nutritious even though it contained a high level of sugar.
“We do not believe that this detracts from the vitamin and mineral content of the drinks,” she said.
Well, let’s wait till some smart arse comes up with the idea of adding vitamins to the cans and bottles of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero and labels it Healthy Coke. What you’ve got to loose guys?
