Chobani’s controversial new ad campaign

Washington: Last week, Chobani aired a cheeky new television spot that pits Simply 100, the Greek yoghurt maker’s new low-calorie offering, against the competition. The commercial opens with a woman lounging on a poolside chair. She reaches for a cup of Dannon Greek yoghurt, reads its ingredients, and then promptly throws it into the garbage. In the background, the voice of a narrator calmly explains what’s going on: “Dannon Light & Fit Greek actually uses artificial sweeteners like sucralose. Sucralose — why? That stuff has chlorine in it.”

Another new video takes aim at Yoplait’s low-calorie offering, alarming consumers that it has potassium sorbate. “That stuff is used to kill bugs,” it exclaims.

The message Chobani is sending is clear: our product is natural; theirs is not. And it’s doing it loudly. The war is not only being waged on cable, but also in print, where the company has run full page ads, and on its website “Did you know not all yogurts are equally good for you?” Anyone who visits the site sees at the very top videos, graphics, and flyers that tout the relative purity of Chobani’s product.

Naturally, those it disparages haven’t appreciated the initiative. Shortly after the ads appeared, Dannon sent a cease-and-desist letter to Chobani, asking for an immediate end to the campaign. “These Simply 100 advertisements are false, misleading and deceptive, will deceive consumers, and have caused and will continue to cause immediate and irreparable injury to Dannon, as well as to consumers,” Marcella Ballard, a lawyer who represents the French company, wrote in the letter to Chobani.

Sucralose is a popular artificial sweetener and potassium sorbate is a widely used preservative. Both are considered safe for use in foods by the FDA.

Dannon contends that Chobani’s campaign is misleading, presumably because it scares consumers away from ingredients the government says are fit for consumption.

Chobani, for its part, resists that characterisation. “We’re empowering consumers with facts and information to help them make more informed decisions,” Peter McGuinness, Chobani’s chief marketing and brand officer, said in a statement. The Greek yoghurt behemoth filed an action Monday morning asking that a New York US District Court declare that its campaign is neither false or misleading.

The provocative ads come at an interesting time for the Greek yoghurt market. The industry is still growing in the United States, but not at the otherworldly clip it once was. Sales are growing by a modest 5 per cent, according to data from Nielsen. Just three years ago, industry growth towered above 60 per cent.

In response, manufacturers are working to differentiate themselves from the competition to adjust. And what better way than by underscoring the artificiality of others’ products? Recent surveys have shown an overwhelming majority of yoghurt buyers want to avoid ingredients they associate with processing. In fact, 93 per cent of light yoghurt eaters specifically prefer natural to artificial products, according to data from market research firm Mintel.

Chobani, which is the largest Greek yoghurt seller in the world, understands this, and isn’t being shy about exploring what happens when they put that knowledge to test.

“We know people are concerned about artificial sweeteners in their food, and this campaign is about giving them truthful and accurate information,” McGuinness said.