Suit Filed over Marketing of Vitaminwater

by Barbara Fought
A public interest group is coordinating a class action lawsuit against Coca-Cola, saying its claims about Vitaminwater are deceptive. Plus, The Center for Science in the Public Interest charges, all the sugar in the VitaminWater promotes obesity and diabetes. The Coca-Cola Company denies its marketing is deceptive.

In a US News and World Report column, "On Fitness," Kathryn Hobson writes that the label includes terms such as "acai-blueberry-pomegranatel," "power of triple antioxidants to help keep you healthy and fight free radicals," and " it is definitely au naturel." Thus, she says, consumers might assume VitaminWater has vitamins, few calories, contains some superfoods and is natural. Little of that is true, she says.

• Where is the edge between a corporation's free speech rights and the responsibility of the government to protect its people?
• If the antidote for "bad" or disfavored speech is more speech, then is the better course for such public interest groups to speak out about this and counter it with more speech, rather than to use the courts to try to punish Coca-Cola's speech?
  
• The law outlines a 4-part test for deception: 1) likely to mislead, 2) a reasonable consumer, 3) about a material statement, and 4) causes harm. Do you think the plaintiffs can prove this?