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It's Time to Worry: Ribena's False Advertising Exposed by British Teenagers
If you've watched Don't Worry and Profit Cola from the Media That Matters: Good Food collection, then you know how unhealthy soft drinks are and to what lengths corporations are willing to go to market these products to children.
Case in point -- Ribena, a major British drink distributor has for many years advertised their signature drink as having more vitamin C than orange juice, and it turns out they were lying (Source: The Daily Telegraph):
Ribena has long been sold as a healthy drink based on advertisements that black currant juice has more vitamin C than orange juice. Its New Zealand advertisements claimed Ready to Drink Ribena had seven milligrams of vitamin C per 100 milliliters (0.25 ounce per 3.4 fluid ounces). But high school students Anna Devathasan and Jenny Suo, then 14, found it contained almost no trace of vitamin C after testing the children's syrup-based drink as part of a science project in 2004.
Auckland District Court Judge Phil Gittos fined GlaxoSmithKline and ordered it to run corrective advertisements, in addition to a message on its Web site. The girls were in court to hear the verdict. "We feel quite proud ... blown away,'' Devathasan told National Radio. "If we hadn't done that science test three years ago, Ribena could have been promoted as vitamin-C full forever.''
It was "remarkable nobody had even picked it up ... and we just stumbled on it by chance,'' she said, adding that she thought the fine should have been more because GlaxoSmithKline was a multibillion dollar company. Commerce Commission chairwoman Paula Rebstock praised the teenagers and called them a "true inspiration to everyone at the commission.'' The commission had sought a fine of NZ$350,000.
Get the full story from The Daily Telegraph.
Contact Ribena to let them know what you think about their misleading advertising tactics.
Watch Don't Worry.
Watch Profit Cola.
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