A series of ads for Coca-Cola's Glaceau Vitamin Water range have been banned for making misleading health and nutrition claims, in part because the drinks are sugar-laden. Coca-Cola, which made the very high-profile $4.1bn acquisition of Glaceau in 2007 to boost its nutritional product range, ran a series of three poster ads for different drinks in the range. One poster, for the Power-C drink, ran with the line "More muscles than Brussels" with text including "Popeye had it easy ..."; another had the headline "Keep perky when you are feeling murky" with a reference to using the drink to ward off illness and use work sick days to "just, erm, not go in". A third poster made references to the benefits of vitamins and avoiding a trip to "the doctor's waiting room". The Advertising Standards Authority 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. Coke said the ads were "humorous and irreverent" and that the the products could actually be described as "low calorie" according to EU nutrition and health claims regulations. The ASA upheld all the complaints against the three ads. The watchdog said Coca-Cola had not provided evidence to support the various claims made in the ads and had breached the advertising code. It ruled the company should not run them again. The ASA also said the drinks could not be considered to be "healthy" because each 500ml bottle contained 26% of the recommended daily allowance of sugar. "Because we considered the ads made claims that were likely to be understood as referring to the nutritional and health benefits of the drinks, it was likely that, in conjunction with these claims, readers would infer that the range of drinks were 'healthy'," said the ASA.
"Because the drinks contained a significant proportion of a consumer's RDA for sugar we concluded the ads were likely to mislead." • or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. • If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".Coca-Cola has paid $4.1bn (£2.07bn) for vitamin water maker Glaceau in an attempt to boost its position in the fast-growing market for sports and health drinks.Like its rival Pepsi, Coke has suffered in its home market as consumers become more health conscious and eschew fizzy drinks in favour of energy drinks, bottled water and teas. As a result, the non-carbonated drink market is soaring.Coke has lagged Pepsi in expanding into the market but analysts said its acquisition of Glaceau gives it a strong presence.Glaceau makes a variety of drinks under the Vitamin Water, Smart Water and Fruit Water brands. Most are fruit-flavoured water with vitamins added.
It sold 77m cases last year, giving it about a third of the market led by Pepsi's Propel Fitness Water, which sold 95m cases.Coke said recently that, while overall sales grew in double digits during the first quarter of the year, volumes in North America were down 3pc. The deal is a boon for India's Tata Industries which bought a 30pc stake in Glaceau last year for $677m.Tata will receive $1.2bn as a result of the cash deal - near doubling its investment in just eight months."Glaceau has built a great business with high-quality growth, as well as a strong pipeline of innovative products and brands," Coca-Cola chairman Neville Isdell said, adding that the acquisition will provide Coca-Cola with a strong foundation from which to develop "active-lifestyle beverages". He said the company plans to "take Glaceau brands to other key markets around the world".Analyst John Faucher of JP Morgan said the pressure would be on to justify the high price tag."The deal makes sense strategically but we do have some concerns about the implications given the lofty purchase price and the beverage industry's chequered past in terms of overpaying for trendy beverage brands that don't quite live up to initial expectations," he said.
On May 26, 2007, Alex Center could feel the energy was different when he walked into the offices at Glacéau brands. The beverage company that hired him as their first full-time in-house designer was sold to The Coca-Cola Company for $4.1 billion dollars, the biggest beverage acquisition of all time. After he finished his glass of Cristal champagne he starting thinking… “Am I going to lose my job? How could a young, nimble lifestyle brand work within a 120-year-old corporation? What could they teach us about becoming a global icon? What could we teach them about building lifestyle brands? Is everything about to change?” No mentoring or master’s program could have taught Center more about branding than what he learned over the next nine years. Learn what he discovered in watching a brand grow from startup to starlet in this entertaining and provocative session about merging brands and the power of design. Alex Center is a Brooklyn-based designer who works for the global beverage leader, The Coca-Cola Company.
He grew up in the town of Oceanside, NY, home to the world's second Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs. He once worked for the New York Knicks as a designer with both his childhood idol, John Starks, and his nemesis, Isiah Thomas. He has spent most of his professional hours being creative on behalf of the beverage brand vitaminwater. Over the years, he has designed packaging that has been in hands across the globe, created breakthrough marketing campaigns, launched innovative new products, and once met rapper 50 Cent who told him, “You must think you're pretty special.” He got nervous and instantly started sweating. In 2011, Alex was named one of the 200 Best Packaging Designers by Luerzers Archive. In 2013, he started sharing his story with speaking engagements at The Dieline Forum, AIGA INitiative, HOW Design Live, and as a guest on Debbie Millman's famous Design Matters podcast. In 2014, Alex was named a Person To Watch by GDUSA Magazine. In 2015, he became a columnist for HOW Magazine, writing about the expanding landscape of in-house design.
Today, he leads the strategy and design vision for brands at Coca-Cola that include vitaminwater, smartwater, and Powerade. In his personal time he enjoys rooting for New York sports teams that wear orange/blue, editing Instagrams for far too long, and searching for the freshest prosciutto in New York City. Mint Museum on Randolph A Really Cool Printing Company. Boingo Graphics offers Charlotte printing services, creative design, mailing, web design and fulfillment. As a leading creative staffing agency, The Creative Group specializes in connecting interactive, design, marketing, advertising, and public relations talent with the best companies. Industry is a shared office environment designed for creatives, technology professionals, freelancers, and other independent workers. Their space offers both private offices as well as flexible workspaces for people to get out of their home office and plug into a dynamic community of people. The Mint Museum is a leading, innovative museum of international art and design committed to engaging and inspiring all members of our global community.