Chobani’s campaign – which flags up the use of so-called “bad stuff” in rival products and implies that Simply 100 is a better, healthier, choice – includes a print ad featuring a picture of Yoplait Greek 100, which opens with the question: “Did You Know Not All Yogurts Are Equally Good for You?” The Greek yogurt behemoth filed an action Monday morning asking that a NY U.S. District Court declare that its campaign is neither false or misleading. “These Simply 100 advertisements are false, misleading and deceptive, will deceive consumers, and have caused and will continue to cause immediate and irreparable injury to Dannon, as well as to consumers”, Marcella Ballard, a lawyer who represents the French company, wrote in the letter to Chobani.
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Michael J. Neuwirth, a spokesman for Dannon, told NBC that the Chobani ad targeting its product is “misleading and deceptive”.
However, this isn’t new territory for the Greek yogurt competitors. Chobani likes to boast that it makes high-quality Greek yogurt with “simple, authentic and natural ingredients” – including fresh milk from local farmers in NY and Idaho, where it produces its yogurt.
Dannon contends that Chobani’s campaign is misleading, presumably because it scares consumers away from ingredients the government says are fit for consumption.
“The Chobani Attack Campaign nonetheless purports to gravely warn consumers that the potassium sorbate in Yoplait Greek 100 is used to “kill bugs” and therefore Yoplait Greek 100 is “bad stuff” that is not ‘healthy, ‘ and that consumers should treat it as garbage”.
It all started with Chobani’s recent launch of a new ad campaign for its “Simply 100” low-calorie yogurt.
The yuppie-approved yogurt brand released punchy ads for its “Simply 100” line targeting its competitors Yoplait and Dannon alleging that their products are sprinkled with insecticides and chlorine.
In the background, the narrator says: “Dannon Light Fit Greek actually uses artificial sweeteners like sucralose”.
“While I’m not surprised, I’m disappointed that Dannon and General Mills (the parent company of Yoplait) are focused on stopping people from having the facts about artificial sweeteners and artificial preservatives”, he said. Perhaps not. On YouTube, a few commenters called out Chobani’s commercial as “fear mongering at its finest” and said that potassium sorbate, the ingredient that Chobani deems dangerous, is “safe for contact and consumption” because it prevents foods from spoiling.
General Mills, based in suburban Minneapolis, rejected the notion that the preservative is a bug killer.
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“The Star Tribune reports Chobani’s chief marketing and brand officer said in a statement “… “This campaign is fundamentally about choice – the choice between natural ingredients versus artificial ingredients”. When asked whether General Mills is considering taking steps to block the commercials, the spokesperson said the group has “nothing to add” at this time.
