PepsiCo Sues Coca-Cola Over Powerade Advertisements

PepsiCo’s Stokely-Van Camp Inc. unit seeks to block Coca- Cola, the world’s largest soft-drink maker, and its Energy Brands Inc. subsidiary from running “deceptive” advertisements claiming that Powerade ION4 is superior to Gatorade. The lawsuit was filed today in federal court in Manhattan.

Gatorade controlled 77 percent of the U.S. sports drink market in 2008, according to Beverage Digest, an industry newsletter. Gatorade’s lower-calorie G2, introduced in late 2007, helped the brand gain 0.5 percentage point of share last year against Powerade, the second-best selling sports drink with 22 percent of the market.

“Defendants’ entire advertising campaign for Powerade ION4 is a calculated, intentional strategy designed to falsely and viciously attack the readily identifiable market leader, Gatorade,” according to the complaint. “It is critical that the court put an end to defendants’ deception at once.”

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola and Energy Brands have been running print and billboard ads showing a Gatorade bottle and a tagline saying the drink is “incomplete” and missing ingredients found in Powerade.