The Coca-Cola Company has been served notice of a class action lawsuit from an American consumer group and a San Fransisco customer amid accusations of “deceptive and unsubstantiated claims” on its glaceau vitaminwater line of beverages. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) argues that The Coca-Cola Company “makes a wide range of dramatic claims, including that its drinks variously reduce the risk of chronic disease, reduce the risk of eye disease, promote healthy... ...Read more »

Streets is today launching an innovative marketing campaign, encouraging customers to buy a Cornetto product to potentially find an MP3 player inside. In what is suggested to be a world-first, winners will find a Samsung S2 Pebble MP3 vacuum sealed inside their Cornetto cone, which is exactly the same weight, size and texture as a genuine Streets Cornetto. Winners will also be able to claim a free Cornetto to compensate for the fact that their original purchase of what they thought to be an ice-cream... ...Read more »

Tesco, the UK’s largest supermarket operator, is under investigation for allegedly misleading consumers regarding a cut-price alcohol deal. It has been suggested that the retailer ran a sale while failing to ensure it had enough stock to meet demand - which has been against the law in the UK since May last year. The company will face two separate investigations over the matter - one by tradings standards officers and another from the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Trading standards... ...Read more »

With the world in the midst of a financial crisis Sam Kekovich is pointing the finger of blame directly at one group, and one group only: over-paid fat-cat bankers. In his now familiar Australia Day address to the nation, Sam empties both barrels at the un-Australian behaviour of “bottom feeding, billionaire bankers”. “We need to return to the egalitarian values that made Australia great, embodied in our national dish: the barbecued lamb chop,” Sam says. “A chop tastes... ...Read more »

South Australian wine retailer, Moving Juice Pty Ltd, has accepted that it is likely to have misled and deceived consumers by misrepresenting price savings in its sales promotions.Following an investigation by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Moving Juice will take steps to correct representations made during February, March and April 2008 when it promoted two Coopers beer and Dog Leg wine specials in The Advertiser newspaper and in its sales catalogues. Moving Juice said that... ...Read more »

Major Australian based food and beverage manufacturers have, for the first time, publicly made available company action plans which spell out in black and white how and when they will market a range of their products. Australian Food and Grocery Council CEO Kate Carnell said that the commitment is in-line with the Council’s recently announced Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative. “Companies participating in this initiative have publicly committed to advertise to children... ...Read more »

McDonald’s, the world’s largest fast food company, has taken a none-too-subtle swipe at Starbucks in their latest US ad campaign. Starbucks, which had been a phenomenon with sensational growth rates for over a decade, has been symbolic of the downturn with a fall from their lofty heights. In Australia, they cut over two-thirds of their stores in August after announcing the closure of 600 underperforming outlets in the US in July. They still maintain their position as the largest coffee... ...Read more »

Tougher restrictions on alcohol advertising have been tabled at a meeting of the nation’s health ministers, with NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca presenting the idea in Brisbane on Friday. The fete of alcohol advertising is now in the hands of the Ministerial Council on Drugs and a strategy group within the health ministers’ conference. “There is a very important opportunity here for a serious debate,” Mr Della Bosca told reporters after the meeting. “The most important... ...Read more »

The Council of Better Business Bureaus (BBB) has announced its approval of Nestlé USA’s advertising pledge as a participant in the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative - which was created to encourage companies to restrict advertising to children. The Children’s Food & Beverage Advertising Initiative was created in 2006 by BBB, with 10 major food and beverage companies, which accounted for more than two-thirds of children’s food and beverage television advertising... ...Read more »

A Senate inquiry has knocked back a Bill proposing a ban on junk food advertising to children. The Australian Food and Grocery Council has welcomed the release of a Senate Inquiry into the ‘Protecting Children from Junk Food Advertising Broadcasting Amendment) Bill 2008′. AFGC CEO Kate Carnell said that the ‘fundamentally flawed’ bill was unnecessary as industry is already set to introduce its own Responsible Children’s Marketing Initiative, on 1 January 2009. Ms... ...Read more »