Vitaminwater Ads Banned In U.K. For Misleading Health Claims

U.K. ASA Bans Vitaminwater Ads After Complaints Arguing They Are Misleading

A series of ads for Coca-Cola's Glaceau Vitaminwater have been banned in the U.K. for "making misleading health and nutrition claims, in part because the drinks are sugar-laden," according to Mark Sweney of the Manchester GUARDIAN. Coca-Cola "ran a series of three poster ads" for different Vitaminwater brands, but the U.K. Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) "received three complaints, which argued that the ads misleadingly implied that vitamins in the drinks conferred health benefits and made them equivalent, or even superior to, vegetables -- and that the drinks made people resistant to illness." Two of the complainants "argued that the advertising positioned the drinks as healthy when in fact they contained high levels of sugar." Coca-Cola said the ads were "humorous and irreverent" and that the products "could actually be described as 'low calorie' according to EU nutrition and health claims regulations." However, the ASA noted that Coca-Cola "had not provided evidence to support the various claims made in the ads and had breached the advertising code." The ASA also said that the drinks "could not be considered to be 'healthy' because each 500ml bottle contained 26% of the recommended daily allowance of sugar" (GUARDIAN.co.uk, 10/7).