Chobani Threw Shade At Other Yogurt Brands And Here’s What Happened
Chobani Yogurt, a heavyweight in the Greek yogurt game, is now responsible for not only igniting a world war between yogurt companies, but for finally letting someone use the phrase, “yogurt industry beef,” sensibly in a sentence.
On Friday, Jan. 29, after multiple lawsuits against Chobani Yogurt from Dannon and General Mills, a federal judge in New York ordered Chobani to discontinue an advertising strategy in which ads were used to call out companies for using unnatural products.
However, Chobani’s competitors allege the ad campaign negatively represented and presented falsified information regarding certain ingredients in yogurt.
The controversial ads, which started airing on Jan. 6, directly stated that Chobani’s Simply Greek 100 Yogurt, “is the only Greek Yogurt that contains natural sweeteners.”
Specifically, the ads insinuated that the ingredients found in the competition’s yogurt were inferior. One ad pointed out that Dannon’s Light and Fit Yogurt contained potassium sorbate, a commonly used preservative, which Chobani presented as a toxic chemical, used as a pesticide.
At this point, the ads seem to be absent from the forefront of online media, but according to multiple reports, the Chobani ads literally threw the competition into the garbage. The New York Times wrote, “In one of Chobani’s television ads, which began airing on Jan. 6, a woman lounging next to a pool tosses a cup of Dannon Light & Fit into a used-towel receptacle with a disgusted look on her face.”
The ad states, “Dannon Light and Fit actually uses artificially sweeteners, like sucralose. Sucralose, why? That stuff has chlorine added to it.”
In response to its legal woes, Chobani issued a statement on Twitter.
The conversation about how food is made in our country is just beginning. #NoBadStuff pic.twitter.com/Y2db9ESCXi
— Chobani (@Chobani) January 29, 2016
Rather than admitting it was wrong to say their competition’s yogurt was poison, Chobani simply argued to continue the #NoBadStuff, sans the attacking ads, campaign and claims all the information found on both potassium sorbate, and surcalose came from government websites.
However, according to The FDA, potassium sorbate seems legit.
Continuing a push for to be the most powerful yogurt kingdom in all the world will take more than a few lawsuits to stop this industry beef from being squashed any time soon.
