ASA bans Vitaminwater ads

Coca-Cola has been forced to pull three posters and a leaflet for its functional water brand Glacéau Vitaminwater because of misleading claims made about the drink’s health benefits.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruling comes as the brand prepares to launch a new flavour.

One of the posters for the existing range of drinks was headlined “More muscles than Brussels”, which the company claimed was a reference to Belgian action hero Jean-Claude Van Damme rather than sprouts.

The ad noted that the drink would “help you beat your granny in an arm wrestle”.

Another execution claimed Vitaminwater helped you “keep perky when you’re feeling murky”, while the leaflet said the drink’s ingredients were “great for giving you superhero-like powers”.

The ASA ruled the claims about the health and nutritional value of the drink were likely to mislead consumers and ordered that the ads must not appear again.

Separately, Glacéau Vitaminwater is launching an integrated campaign to support the introduction of new flavour variant “XXX – triple berry”. The digital side of the campaign will involve an online talent search culminating in event-led activity in London at the end of October.