Pepsi sues Coke over Powerade’s Ion-4 ads

A PepsiCo unit responsible for Gatorade filed a lawsuit Monday saying Coca-Cola Co. is making false claims in advertisements for its Powerade Ion-4 sports drink.

The ads show photos of Gatorade and Powerade Ion-4 bottles with the text “Don’t settle for an incomplete sports drink … Introducing the complete sports drink with Ion-4.”

The ads say Ion-4, a new version of Powerade, is superior to Gatorade because Ion-4 has additional electrolytes. The Gatorade lawsuit says “there is no evidence, scientific or otherwise, that Powerade Ion-4 functions better than Gatorade as a sports drink.”

Coca-Cola, though, is not backing down.

“We stand behind our product and are prepared to defend the role that Powerade plays in hydrating consumers,” Coca-Cola spokesman Scott Williamson said.

PepsiCo filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in New York through Stokely-Van Camp, a PepsiCo unit that owns the Gatorade brand. PepsiCo acquired Gatorade in 2001 when it bought Quaker.

“As the category leader, we have a responsibility to ensure consumers are accurately informed about the benefits of a sports drink,” PepsiCo said in a statement. “And the truth is scientists say there is no evidence that Powerade Ion-4 is a more complete sports drink than Gatorade.”

The lawsuit trumpets Gatorade’s heritage, reminding the court that it was “born on the football fields of the famed University of Florida ‘Gators’ in 1965.”

“Gatorade is the most thoroughly researched beverage in the world, and the only sports drink with more than 40 years of science to back up its claims that it works — hydrating athletes, replenishing electrolytes and providing fuel for working muscles,” PepsiCo said in its statement.

Gatorade accounted last year for 77 percent of U.S. take-home sales in the sports drink segment, according to figures from Beverage Digest. Powerade represented 22 percent of the sports drink segment.

The competition between Coca-Cola and Pepsi, though, has heated up in recent years. In addition to Powerade, Coca-Cola also now owns Vitaminwater, an enhanced water.

Vitaminwater launched ads last year that took a direct attack at Gatorade, showing a bucket of Gatorade being dumped with the words, “Out with the old … in with the new.”

The PepsiCo lawsuit joins several other legal or regulatory issues facing Coca-Cola over claims about its drinks.

The FDA sent Coca-Cola a letter in December saying the beverage-maker mislabeled Diet Coke Plus, a soda fortified with vitamins. Coca-Cola said the vitamin claims comply with FDA guidelines and is awaiting further response from the FDA.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, sued Coca-Cola in January questioning health claims for Vitaminwater. Coca-Cola stands by the Vitaminwater claims and has called the lawsuit “ridiculous and ludicrous.”

Earlier this month, a panel in Australia asked Coke to publish corrective advertisements after it said the soft-drink company could have misled consumers with ads saying Coke products won’t make them fat or rot teeth.

The recent advertising and labeling issues are unrelated, Williamson said.