Supreme Court Says Coca-Cola Can Be Sued Over Juice Drink
Source: NY Times
WASHINGTON The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously allowed a false advertising suit against a Coca-Cola juice blend to move forward, saying the companys practices allegedly mislead and trick consumers, all to the injury of competitors.
The blend, sold under Coca-Colas Minute Maid brand, is made almost entirely from apple and grape juice. But it is called Pomegranate Blueberry, followed in smaller type by the phrase Flavored Blend of 5 Juices.
Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the court, said the blend contained a minuscule amount of pomegranate and blueberry juices. More specifically, he said, the beverage is made up of 99.4 percent apple and grape juices, 0.3 percent pomegranate juice, 0.2 percent blueberry juice and 0.1 percent raspberry juice.
The products front label, he added, also displays a vignette of blueberries, grapes and raspberries in front of a halved pomegranate and a halved apple.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/13/business/supreme-court-says-coca-cola-can-be-sued-by-Pom-Wonderful.html?hp&_r=0
louis-t
(23,309 posts)It's 4 ounces less product than before (at the same price), but isn't it a great new shape?? Probably because "our customers told us they wanted a bottle that was easier to hold on to."
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)I have a habit of looking at the labels before I buy to read the ingredients and it amazes how many times a "blend of apple, pear, or grape juice" is passed off as being "Orange and Carrot" simply because they waved a carrot and orange over the concoction.
Apple juice has a bad habit of giving me a horrendous case of the squirts so this kind of homeopathic flavoring tends to make me a bit angry.
mimi85
(1,805 posts)doesn't have other pressing issues to deal with. So glad this was right at the top of important rulings. Sheesh!
santamargarita
(3,170 posts)Make the fascist pig corporations keep truth in advertising.
1Greensix
(111 posts)Gee, a large American company screwing its customers. I'll bet that's never happened before. Coca-Cola must be pretty damn desperate for money to sell off cheap apple juice by intentionally deceptively labeling it Pomegranate Blueberry.
But, maybe I'm being hasty in my judgment. Coca-Cola is after all a Georgia based company, so maybe the people who work there are just demonstrating Current Georgian morality. You know, a Gun in every pocket, Lie, cheat and steal to get ahead, that Sack of Crap New Gingrich. Maybe their morality is just completely out of whack and they didn't think cheating their customers was doing anything wrong.
My question would then be anyone should trust them about any of their other products if they will pull this crap?
Stuart G
(38,454 posts)allegedly mislead and trick consumers, all to the injury of competitors.
yes indeed they did..I looked at the label in the NY Times article..and it does look like a misleading label.
Yes it does. It won't be cheap when it goes to this court. But I do thin Coke will come up with a few bucks to buy themselves out of this one. Quickly and quietly.. Yes indeed...
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Yet far too many still believe that accuracy in labeling is little more than woo, and a cumbersome financial burden on the oppressed corporations.
Nihil
(13,508 posts)And for that, I point you at the many recent & current threads on the
labelling vs hiding of GMO food ingredients ...
Or the unforgettable action of the US administration in *preventing* farmers
from labelling their goods "BSE-free" after they'd tested clear.
happyslug
(14,779 posts)Here is the actual decision:
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/13pdf/12-761_6k47.pdf
The case involved two separate Federal Laws. One law (Lanham Act, 15 U. S. C. §1127) permits competitors to bring suit against a company if a product the later company is selling is so mislabeled that it hurts competition. In this case a true pomegranate juice producer sued Coca-Cola over selling a pomegranate Juice with 99.4% NON-pomegranate juice in it.
Coca Cola said the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) 21 U. S. C. §§331 superseded the Lanham act, and given that the under the FDCA only the Federal Government can bring an action the lawsuit filed by the pomegranate juice maker (POM WONDERFUL LLC) should be dismissed. This argument succeeded at trial court and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but the Supreme Court ruled the laws do not conflict for the FDCA does NOT preempt the Lanham act. Thus a Competitor can bring a suit under the Lanham act when a Competitor labels something that it is NOT. The lower Courts had ruled that the FDCA overrulled the Lanham Act and thus only the Government could bring such a suit for the FDCA restricted any litigation to the Government, it permitted no private cause of action.
What the court ruled is that when one act permits private cause of action, and another restricts actions to the Government, unless it is clear on its face, the later does NOT preempt the former. That is important.
rocktivity
(44,583 posts)From my advertising copywriting days, I remember that spaghetti sauce had to be at least 3% meat in order to be labeled as a meat sauce; less meant that it had to be called "flavored with meat."
They might been able to get away with calling it "100% juice flavored with pomegranate and blueberry." But at less than 0.2 per cent each, I don't think that's enough to legally call it "flavored..."
rocktivity