NAD Reviews Claims for V8 Juices Following Ocean Spray Challenge

NAD Finds Campbell Can Support Claims for V8 ‘Original;’
Finds Campbell Acted Properly in Discontinuing V8 ‘V-Fusion’ Ad

New York, NY – Oct. 25, 2012  – The National Advertising Division has determined that Campbell Soup Company can support advertising claims for original V8 Vegetable Juice, challenged before NAD by  Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc.

NAD further determined that Campbell acted properly in discontinuing certain claims for its V8 “V-Fusion” product.

NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s self-regulatory system and administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

The claims at issue appeared in separate advertisements that featured action star Jackie Chan. Challenger Ocean Spray is the maker of Ocean Spray cranberry juice products.

In its review of advertising for original V8 Vegetable Juice, NAD considered the following express and implied claims:

• “…for half the calories plus veggie nutrition, could’ve had a V8.”
• Ocean Spray’s Cranberry Juice beverages contain an unhealthy amount of calories.
• Consumers should not drink Ocean Spray’s cranberry juice beverages because of their high caloric content.
• Campbell’s V8 product is nutritionally superior overall to Ocean Spray’s cranberry juice products.

In the broadcast spot, a woman eating breakfast on her balcony is surprised by the action star, who flips her cranberry juice off the table and replaces it with a bottle of Original V8 Vegetable Juice. “That’s good morning, veggie style,” he states. The camera cuts away to a product shot of the bottle of cranberry juice, pulled off the screen by one hand as another hand replaces it with a bottle of Original V8.  The voiceover states, “for half the calories plus veggie nutrition, could’ve had a V8.” The tagline also appeared onscreen.

The print advertisement depicts a glass of cranberry juice being tipped over the edge of a table and spilling out its contents as a glass of V8 Vegetable juice stands upright, just off center of the page.  The advertisement is headlined: “Counting calories?  Try V8.  And take cranberry juice off the table.”  The body copy reads, “Switch to delicious V8 100% Vegetable Juice, and you’ll get half the calories of cranberry juice, plus two servings of vegetables.  Having a cranberry juice?  Could’ve had a V8.”
Following its review of  the claims at issue, NAD concluded that the challenged advertisements conveyed the truthful and accurate message that V8 Original Vegetable Juice contains one-half the calories of cranberry juice plus vegetable nutrition not found in the challenger’s cranberry and cranberry juice beverage products and did not falsely denigrate the challenger’s cranberry beverage products.

In a second broadcast spot, for V8 V-Fusion, a voice-over questions whether a child’s juice drink is “too watery?”  The drink is discarded by the action star and replaced with a bottle of
V8 V-Fusion.

Ocean Spray challenged express and implied claims that:
• Ocean Spray’s Cranberry Juice beverages are “watery.”
• Consumers should not drink juice drinks because they are “watery.”
• Campbell’s V8 V-Fusion is nutritionally superior overall to Ocean Spray’s cranberry juice products.

NAD determined that the challenged commercial conveyed the message that the product provided “excellent fruit and veggie nutrition,” a message that that NAD found to be substantiated and not falsely disparaging.

However, NAD noted that it appreciated the advertiser’s voluntary discontinuance of the claim that cranberry juice drinks are “too watery” – an action NAD found to be necessary and proper.

Campbell, in its advertiser’s statement, said the company would take NAD’s recommendations into account in future advertising.