A company LYING about one of its products!?!? Say it isn't so!

I know people who claim to "hate the taste of water" and will only drink vitamin waters. This baffles me.

"Hate the taste of water" = "converting to atheism" = "my favorite color is white"

My bottle of 130 generic Rite-Aid multivitamins cost me about eight bucks. Eight bucks will buy you, what, THREE VitaminWaters?

by no means a complete vitamin drink, but its like gatorade with a sprinkle of vitamins.

@22pine22: and mold!

Bad idea for a lawsuit. If "herbal" supplements are allowed to make any outlandish claim they care to, then by all means should Coke be able to market sugar water as an alternative to vegetable juice.

What's next, will Kool-Aid start calling themselves "Hyper Water"?

@jrizos: Except herbal suppliment makers aren't under the purveyance of the FDA and Coke is.

All this means is that pretty soon we'll have "Herbal" Coke.

I don't understand the suit. It has way more vitamins than soda, juice, water, beer, moonshine, and plenty of other things you could be drinking. All the details are of course on the nutritional label as well. Where is the deceit coming from?

@Ash78: I know people that say the same thing about hating the taste of water. It baffles me too because water has no taste! (unless it's tap water) I also know some people that claim to drink only soft drinks and never any water, I don't even see how this is possible?!

Wow, 50 Cent is having a bad trend so far...His show sucked, his music has been horrible, and hes been losing money and how his vitamin water is being sued...

@kaptainkk: Your body can still find all the water it needs from foods and other beverages, but none of them are as efficient as regular water. Once you drink a lot of water, you become very attuned to dehydration. I used to think that feeling was just hunger, exhaustion, frustration, etc. Then I realized I was just fluid-starved.

@kaptainkk: Unless it's distilled--not just filtered--water does indeed have a taste--or to be more accurate, different tastes depending on where you are and where your water comes from.

I'm not a big fan of the taste myself, though I mind it less than I used to, and it's certainly possible to meet your liquid needs without drinking straight water.

@adamcz: Here's the CSPI statement: [cspinet.org]

Basically, it's not about the Vitamin name as much as it is about the claims about what the drink does for you.

@morganlh85: Well, since sugar doesn't cause hyperactivity, that'd CLEARLY be false advertising.

@kaptainkk: Unless it's distilled, and not just filtered, water will have a taste. I don't much like it myself, though I mind it less than I used to.

@Ash78:

I'm pretty much one of those people who hates the taste of water. Whether it's tap water or bottled, drinking it is just gross. I can't take more than a few sips before it turns my stomach.

@adamcz: It's not the name, it's the health claims the company's been making attendant to the product. Here's the CSPI's statement: [cspinet.org]

@adamcz: Could be the fact that Vitamin Water has just as much sugar and as many calories as soda.

Wow, major server barf; sorry.

@YungOne83: In his defense, Formula 50 is the only flavor of Vitamin Water I will drink

It has vitamins. So does Nestle Quik. In fact, Quik has more vitamin C per serving than some brands of orange juice. Would I swear off orange juice and drink only Quik? No. Just because something has vitamins doesn't mean it's healthy. You could load up a cow pie with all the vitamin A, B, C you want and throw in some fiber and iron to boot, but it doesn't mean you should eat it.

@Ash78:you mean black white?

@floraposte: I must be unusual then. I love the taste of water. Especially settled water, where you've filtered it and left it in the bottle for day or longer. It's so crisp and good! Even better when chilled! Oh, gonna go pour myself a drink.

@Ash78: Technically, white is the presence of all colors. Your argument would theoretically be more correct by saying 'My favorite color is black'. Black is, of course, the absense of all color and, coincidentally, my favorite.

Nothing CSPI says should EVER be taken seriously. They belong in the nutter category with PETA and PCRM and want everyone to eat vegetarian and stop eating anything healthy, like meat and animal fat.

@kaptainkk: I have actually tasted "pure" water - the kind used in clean room manufacturing - and can tell you that all commercially available water has some taste. Truly tasteless water is actually very expensive and can be dangerous to drink.

@Micromegas: Interesting...I just see it like breathing. Sometimes the air doesn't smell perfect, but you've gotta do it.

I guess if you treat water as "competition" for other drinks, it'll lose every time. I guess I don't see it as a substitute for other beverages...it's just a base necessity for me (FWIW, this only started for me a few years ago. I used to be completely "meh" on it)

Whereupon 50 Cent endorsed the product, everyone should have known it was a poor product.

I personally find that the fruit punch flavor is a great topper to a night of heavy drinking.

And they do list absurd amounts of sugar on the back. If one were so health-conscious as to be drinking Vitamin Water for its curative properties... Well, I'd imagine that they wouldn't be drinking it for it's sugarative properties.

While I agree that some bottle waters have a sort of funky, chlorine-like taste (Aquafina does, for me anyway), that's still no reason to waste money on "sport" and "vitamin" waters. Hell, many doctors warn that by chugging that stuff, and taking a daily multivitamin (as you should), you run the risk of vitamin and mineral overload.

Our bodies were designed to drink WATER, not ProMinVitaAquaGator Water.

@invisiblenemies: It depends on which color model you are using. Under the additive color model (RGB), black is the absence of all color. Under the subtractive color model (CMYK), white is the absence of all color.

Ah, the good old Center for Science in the Public Interest, promoters of junk science and frivolous lawsuits since 1971.

@Ash78: I drink probably 90 percent water or tea. Once in a blue moon I'll have some coke but it can make me feel bloated or very full. It's odd. So I love the taste of water-I've always consumed a fair amount, but now sometimes I dream of getting home and pouring some from my Brita pitcher.

@wagenejm: Thank-you, that is the distinction. And I agree, this will lead to Coke adding a sprinkle of Ginko or something and then they can say drinking it will grant immortality if they wish.

@Travis Estell: Roy G. Biv is my homeboy.

Also, the only thing that makes me want to defend it is the commercials Steve Nash did for Vitamin Water. They cracked me up, but I have an unnatural fondness for him anyway.

But yeah, too much sugar. When I do drink that sort of thing, it's usually LifeWater, because I think the sugar is processed differently and might not be quite as bad as HFCS?

@floraposte: I'm not the kind of person to attribute non-existant aspects to things like wine (ahh, it reeks of cat piss on fresh hot asphalt, with a tang of rosemary and cinnamon", BUT....

I do find that some bottled waters, especially Aquafina, feels "soft and fluffy". And yes, i know it's just tap water.

@invisiblenemies: It also depends if we're talking additive or subtractive color systems, though.

@summerbee: and many hundreds of empty calories!

Is this really happening? Haha. This is EXACTLY why the FDA requires all food/drink products to have a "Nutrition Facts" label. Personally, I love vitaminwater. But, I surely don't think it is an overall healthy drink choice. Yes, it has vitamins...but it also has lots of sugar etc. So, truly: vitaminwater has vitamins and water...hence the name.

Instead of suing for something ridiculous like this, The Center for Science in the Public Interest should do a study on why some people are so so stupid that they would believe this drink is equivalent to a vitamin.

@cmdrsass: That's what I was wondering. Aren't the CSPI like...KNOWN for making crap claims? Moreover, hasn't the Consumerist itself REPORTED on their crap claims before?

@cmdrsass: Only in this case they are spot-on with their claims, and the only "junk science" is every "sport" and "vitamin" water's claims that the glorified tap water is entirely healthy and beneficial to one's health.

Have you ever read the labels on these bottles? Do you know how much sugar, artificial flavors, and calories are in this crap? They're nothing but a marketing gimmick promoted by lies and peoples' ignorance

I think the product marketing is misleading. A friend bought one in a vending machine where you can't read the label first. They thought it was just some sort of enhanced water. They took a swig and almost spit it out not expecting sugar loaded crap and threw the rest in the trash.

@floraposte: From the cspinet.org article: "But I had no idea that I was actually getting almost a Coke's worth of sugar and calories. There's no way I would have spent money on that, had I known."

And how could he have possibly known?! Other than checking the nutritional label on the drink. I'm sorry, but if it tastes like sugar, and the label says there's sugar in it - it's probably a sugary drink. Of course, a lot of people think fruit juice is a healthy drink too.

@YungOne83: I had no idea 50 Cent had anything to do with Vitamin Water.

@cmdrsass:
"Junk science" is one of those knee-jerk phrases used when attempting to discredit something without actually offering proof. This stuff is not what it claims to be. It's fortified sugar water. What's frivolous about calling coca cola on it?

@adamcz: I'm with you. It does have vitamins and it does taste (remotely) like peaches or grapes... I don't think there's any misleading claims and if their positioning is that it's healthful, people have their own ideas on what is healthful and what is not. It's certainly better for you than the soda they've been pushing.

That said, I hate Vitamin Water. There's too much sugar and I get my vitamins from eating actual food-- I don't rely on a drink for nutrition.

"But, but...Brawndo's got electrolytes."

"What exactly ARE electrolytes?"

"...They're what make Brawndo."

It is interesting that they waited until Coca-Cola bought the company. I guess they figured Coke has deeper pockets.