A Spotify ad promoting Gatorade's No Sugar drink has breached the Food Code for misleading consumers by overstating the product's hydration benefit.
The complaint submitted to Ad Standards raised concerns that the advertisement is misleading by implying that drinking Gatorade is necessary to replace electrolytes lost through sweat during physical activity.
There are multiple versions of this audio streaming ad where some aspects change, however all contain the phrase "when you sweat you lose more than water. Losses in fluids and electrolytes make it that much harder to get through your day".
One example script includes: “Whether you're running on a treadmill or on a late night walk you've gotta stay hydrated because when you sweat you lose more than water. Losses in fluids and electrolytes make it that much harder to get through your day.
"Gatorade No Sugar is scientifically formulated to help replace essential electrolytes you lose in sweat without the unwanted sugar. Because you need a drink that gets you from A to B and a little bit further. Try Gatorade No Sugar today, tap the banner to learn more.”
Example Gatorade no sugar ad via Gatorade.
The full complaint: "At the beginning of the ad Gatorade mention that sweating makes you lose essential electrolytes. Whilst this might be true for extreme cases of exercise (such as with professional athletes, or longer periods of exercise) it isn't usually the case.
"Therefore, they are in breach of section 2.1 of The Food and Beverage Advertising Code by being likely to mislead potential consumers into drinking more of the product than necessary.
"Some versions of the ad mention examples where drinking an electrolyte heavy product would in fact not have anywhere near the advertised effect such as 'running to the bus stop' or 'on a late night walk'. The ad being on Spotify makes it available to a wide audience who would not benefit from this product but may believe that they will because of the phrasing or content that this advertisement contains."
PepsiCo defended the ad as "the amount of sweat released by a person during any physical activity depends on several factors" but highlighted that the ad will not be broadcasted again.
The panel found the ad to breach of Section 2.1 of the Food Code, as "the suggestion that the product was needed to replace essential electrolytes lost in everyday activities overstated the benefit of the product and was likely to mislead or deceive the target consumer."
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