Coke’s POWERADE brand sports drink was contemplating how to take market share from segment leader Pepsi’s GATORADE product. It decided to tout the addition of calcium, magnesium and potassium. It ran a campaign describing these minerals as ‘critical’, describing POWERADE as ‘complete,’ describing GATORADE as ‘incomplete’ alongside a depiction of half a GATORADE bottle (pictured
False Advertising
Restraint of Trade in Market for Warhol Works
43(B)log: “Doubled Denied, denied in part“:
Simon-Whelan v. Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc., 2009 WL 1457177 (S.D.N.Y.)
Simon-Whelan, as putative class representative for art buyers, alleged that the Foundation and various defendants violated state and federal antitrust laws by conspiring to restrain and monopolize trade in the market for Warhol
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FedEx Disputes With UPS As To Who Is Reliable
TradingMarkets.com: “FedEx lawsuit alleges UPS ‘most reliable’ ad is false”
6 Hour Energy Shot v 5 Hour Energy Shot
43(B)log: “5 Hour Power struck unfair blow against alleged infringer 6 hour.” Interesting fact pattern. Defendant received injunction against one competitor using a certain term, and issued a press release that falsely suggested that it had received a court order against all competitors using that term, subjecting plaintiff to lost sales.
NY State Sues Arbitron Over Portable People Meter
Reuters: “NY State Sues Arbitron Over Portable People Meter”
as does the New Jersey attorney general.
UPDATE: Arbitron sues New Jersey.
UK iPhone Ad Banned for False Advertising
SlashDot: “iPhone Web Claims Draw Governmental Rebuke in UK“:
“Apple has been running an iPhone ad saying ‘all parts of the internet are on the iPhone’, but it had to be withdrawn after Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority ruled that it gave ‘a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone’ because the…
Cash vs Credit Prices on Gas Station Signage
Newsday: Gas Station owners say Cuomo’s charges are wrong:
Particularly grating on the retailers was the statement in Cuomo’s news releases saying the stations “engaged in false advertising by only listing the lower cash prices on their street view signage in order to lure patrons to the pump.” A story last week about the
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Warning: $2000 Fine, 5 Years Imprisonment, or Both, For Any Person Interfering or Obstructing With Delivery Of This Letter, 18 Sec 1702 Code
or so Heritage Mortage Banking Corp. of Morristown, NJ would have you believe. Se Habla Espanol.
43(B)log: “Is it False To Make Your Competitor’s Service Worse and Then Say You’re Better?”
43(B)log: “Is it false to make your competitor’s service worse and then say you’re better?“:
NetQuote sued MostChoice, a competitor, and Brandon Byrd, its employee. NetQuote alleged that MostChoice employed Byrd to pretend to be individuals interested in insurance quotes. He thus submitted hundreds of false inquiries to NetQuote’s web site, knowing that
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“Tyson Faces Second False Advertising Suit Over ‘Antibiotic Free’ Claims”
NewsInferno: “Tyson Faces Second False Advertising Suit Over ‘Anitbiotic Free’ Claims“:
Perdue’s issues stem from Tyson’s claims that its chickens were “raised without antibiotics” and, later, “raised without antibiotics that impact antibiotic resistance in humans.” In April, a U.S. District Court in Baltimore ruled that Tyson remove the claims from its advertising while
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