3.5
August 20, 2010

Vitaminwater = Sugarfat. ~ John Spina

“Coke was sued for the ‘unwarranted health claims’ on their product Vitaminwater. Coke’s defense was ‘no consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking vitaminwater was a healthy beverage.'”

Also: vitaminwater is not vegan (the vitamin D is from sheep grease).(pbs.org)

After all, it’s owned by Coca-Cola.

Get this: Coca-Cola is being sued for falsely advertising Vitamin Water as a healthy way to hydrate. But wait for the good part. The company’s defense in the court of law is that

“No consumer could reasonably be misled into thinking Vitamin Water was a healthy beverage.”

As ridiculous as that sounds, basically saying that no sensible consumer would actually believe the company’s own advertising claims, it makes sense. The only time I drink Vitaminwater is to cure a hangover (it works) and I never thought that it was such a healthy drink, despite its supposedly misleading name.  I mean, come on, it’s basically pure sugar, the equivalent to Gatorade or Powerade.  If you really thought it was such a healthy alternative and solid source of vitamins…you need to get real. It tastes like sugar water, the nutrition facts on the back of the bottle says it contains 33 grams of sugar…how could someone actually think that it is such a healthy drink? Merely because of its name and the star athletes who promote it?  Plus what health freak would attempt to get their daily dose of vitamins from a drink owned by Coca-Cola, no less?

I find it ridiculous that the Center for Science in the Public Interest is actually suing Coca-Cola over this.  Don’t they have something better to research in the public’s interest than test the validity of Vitamin Water’s claim to be a health drink? If anything, I believe this speaks to the absurdity and ignorance of the American Public.  Are we really that indoctrinated and handcuffed by advertising that we can no longer think for, nor take of ourselves?

That said, I can’t defend Coca-Cola. They’ve been accused of murdering, kidnapping, illegally imprisoning, and even torturing union leaders in their South American bottling plants. The organization Killer Coke has begun to spread the message in attempts to reveal the brutal nature of Coca-Cola’s business model and hold them responsible.

John Spina currently attends the University of Vermont in Burlington where he will graduate with a double major in history and political science in 2011.  He writes sports for the school paper, the Vermont Cynic, as well as publishes weekly articles in the Mountain Ear, a local Nederland paper, and works as an Intern for the Elephant Journal. He loves spending time outdoors with his dog, McKinley, and being home in Colorado working for the summer.

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