Kellogg Finally Settles FTC Lawsuit for $4 Million
The wheels of justice turn slowly… often painfully so.
Back in 2009, Kellogg was sued by the FTC for deceptive advertising, over claims that its “Frosted Mini-Wheats” cereal would make kids more attentive in school. For example, according to a Kellogg press release (cited in the FTC complaint):
Keeping ‘Em Full and Focused
Kellogg recently commissioned research to measure the effect on kids of eating a breakfast of Frosted Mini-Wheats® cereal. An independent research group conducted a series of standardized, cognitive tests on children 8 to 12 who ate either a breakfast of Frosted Mini-Wheats® cereal or water. The result? The children who ate a breakfast of Frosted Mini-Wheats® cereal had a nearly 20% improvement in attentiveness.
Similar language appeared on product packages, as well as in online, television and print ads. You could drive a truck through the holes in this claim (I mean, c’mon – water vs. cereal???), but it gets worse. Turns out that Kellogg was being less-than-honest about that “nearly 20%” figure.
In truth and in fact, eating a bowl of Kellogg’s® Frosted Mini-Wheats® cereal for breakfast is not clinically shown to improve kids’ attentiveness by nearly 20%. In the clinical study referred to in respondent’s advertisements, for example, only about half the kids who ate Frosted Mini-Wheats® cereal showed any improvement after three hours as compared to their pre-breakfast baseline. In addition, overall, only one in seven kids who ate the cereal improved their attentiveness by 18% or more, and only about one in nine improved by 20% or more. Therefore the representation set forth in paragraph 6 was, and is, false or misleading.
Well whaddya know? Kellogg misrepresented the results of an unpublished, non-peer-reviewed study that it commissioned to support its product advertising! Color me surprised!
Actually, color me sarcastic. I’m not really surprised at all.
At any rate, fast forward to this week… Kellogg has finally settled with the FTC for $4 million dollars. According to the AP, consumers who purchased the cereal during the period the ad claims were made can apply for refunds of $5.00 per box (up to three boxes). Seems cheap to me, but hopefully it’s enough to discourage Kellogg from making similarly shady claims in the future.
June 3, 2013
The wheels turn slow indeed. It is nice to see that they were punished, finally.