The Coca-Cola Company will be able to challenge Gatorade’s electrolyte content on Powerade labels after the National Advertising Review Board (NARB) favored the company in a decision this week regarding Powerade’s claim to have “50% more electrolytes vs. the leading sports drink.”
The NARB ruled that Powerade may continue using the claim so long as it calls out Gatorade by name. Their new recommended phrasing is “50% more electrolytes vs. Gatorade Thirst Quencher.”
The decision overturns a prior ruling from earlier this year that advised Coke to cease using the claim altogether, arguing that it was unsupported by evidence.
Powerade had featured the original call out on its packaging, as well as in two video ads and social media posts, which were reviewed by the NARB and the National Advertising Division (NAD) of Better Business Bureau National Programs.
One social media post, which included a “strong arm emoji,” was also called into question as suggesting that drinking Powerade will make a consumer stronger than if they drank Gatorade.
Coke appealed that decision in August and, although the NARB advised against the original wording, this new ruling represents a victory for the beverage giant. In a statement, the company said it “applauds” the decision and will make the recommended changes, as well as discontinuing the past video ads.
While the NAD originally believed that the “50% more electrolyte” claim “overstated the significance of the nutrient difference” between Powerade and its chief competitor, the NARB panel found that Powerade’s recent reformulation – adding addition sodium and potassium – did, in fact, prove the claim true.
Powerade contains 240 mg of sodium and 80 mg of potassium per serving, compared to Gatorade Thirst Quencher which contains 160 mg of sodium and 50 mg of potassium.
Other competitors in the category vary in terms of their content. Powdered rapid hydration drinks such as Liquid I.V. contain around 500 mg of sodium per serving and far surpass Powerade in electrolyte content. Fast-rising hydration beverage PRIME has 834 mg of electrolytes, although some nutritionists have suggested the drinks’ low sodium and sugar content could potentially inhibit the functional benefits of its added magnesium and potassium as those ingredients are typically necessary to help the body absorb other nutrients, according to Eating Well.
While Gatorade is the leading sports drink in the U.S. by sales, the NARB advised Coke to specifically cite the brand’s core “Gatorade Thirst Quencher” line by name, in order to clarify which Gatorade product the claim applies to.
Other Gatorade products, such as rapid hydration formula line Gatorlyte, do vastly outperform Powerade in electrolyte content (that product contains 490 mg of sodium, 350 mg of potassium, 1,040 mg chloride, 105 mg magnesium and 120 mg calcium per serving).
As well, the NARB cleared Coke of wrongdoing with its strong arm emoji post, stating that the post does not communicate “a superiority claim, but merely draws attention to the fact that Powerade increased its electrolytes.”
Reached by BevNET, BodyArmor Sports Nutrition CEO Federico Muyshondt said in an email that the Powerade brand will continue using the slogan going forward.
“We’ll continue with our plan and use the claim in all of our marketing materials (on pack, POS, social content + messaging, creative + digital assets, etc.),” Muyshondt wrote. “It is important to that we continue to provide consumers with more information (not less/generalized) about our products, so that they can make an informed decision about what is best for them. This is great for the consumer.”
This is hardly the first time Powerade and Gatorade have sparred over alleged product superiority claims. In 2009, Gatorade owner PepsiCo sued Coke claiming that marketing for its Powerade ION4 product, calling it “The Most Complete Sports Drink” suggested that Gatorade is “incomplete” and threatened to permanently damage the brand’s image. A judge sided with Coke several months after the case was filed.