Competitors Strike Back In Response To Chobani Simply 100 Ads

Chobani's commitment to providing customers with "truthful and accurate information" in order to make informed decisions on the food they buy and consume has caused its competitors General Mills and Dannon to take action. General Mills and Dannon have both filed lawsuits against Chobani for false advertising in their Simply 100 campaign that is damaging to their brands.

General Mills' complaint stems from a Chobani Simply 100 ad that calls out potassium sorbate as a preservative in Yoplait Greek 100, which the narrator says is, "used to kill bugs." In its complaint, which was filed on Sunday in the U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, General Mills says, "In fact, the television commercial that leads the Chobani Attack Campaign goes so far to convey that, because Yoplait Greek 100 is laced with a pesticide, it is so dangerous and unfit to eat that consumers should discard it as garbage." General Mills continues by saying that potassium sorbate is, "considered by multiple federal agencies to be a safe and non-harmful food ingredient," says the Star Tribune.

The same Chobani ad campaign also targets Dannon, in another ad which suggests that Dannon's Light & Fit yogurt contains added chlorine as the product contains sucralose, an artificial sweetener processed with added chlorine. Dannon threatened to sue Chobani, but Chobani beat Dannon to the punch, asking Dannon to declare that its claims in its Simply 100 ads are not false or deceptive. In response, Dannon has filed a counterclaim.

Peter McGuinness, Chobani's chief marketing and brand officer, said in a statement, "While I'm not surprised, I'm disappointed that Dannon and General Mills are focused on stopping people from having the facts about artificial sweeteners and artificial preservatives. This campaign is about giving people truthful and accurate information so they can make more informed decisions about the food they buy."