Anheuser-Busch must halt deceptive ads for Michelob ULTRA Hard Seltzer, judge says
Updated Feb 10, 2021;
Posted Feb 09, 2021
Michelob Ultra this year released what Anheuser-Busch called the first national USDA certified organic hard seltzer, which a judge called false, deceptive false advertising. A Pendleton-based brewery released a USDA certified organic hard seltzer months earlier.Michelob ULTRA
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“Truth matters,” U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon wrote in his 25-page opinion.
He issued a temporary restraining order for the beverage maker to halt the deceptive ads.
In the commercial titled “Not Playing Around,” the ad described Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer as “the only national USDA Certified Organic Hard Seltzer. We’re not playing around.”
PORTLAND â A football commercial aired during an NFL game has led to a lawsuit pitting a Pendleton brewer against one of the largest beverage companies in the country.
Suzieâs Brewery Co. filed a lawsuit on Feb. 2 against Anheuser-Busch in U.S. District Court in Portland, alleging that the companyâs advertising campaign for a new hard seltzer product was misleading and harmed its own product, Suzieâs Organic Hard Seltzer.
âUsing the bully-pulpit its massive national advertising budget allows, Anheuser-Busch has premiered a new false and misleading advertising campaign aimed at convincing health-conscious drinkers that its new organic hard seltzer is a unique, one-of-a-kind product,â Suzieâs Breweryâs complaint states. âTo be clear, it is not.â
Oregon hard seltzer maker takes on beverage giant Anheuser-Busch in pre-Super Bowl scrimmage in court
Updated Feb 07, 2021;
Posted Feb 04, 2021
Chris Barhyte, the founder and chief executive officer of Suzie’s Brewery, says his family-owned business has been distributing its USDA-certified organic hard seltzer for at least five months before Anheuser-Busch s Michelob Ultra seltzer entered the market.
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Updated Feb. 5, 2021: Court hearing rescheduled to Mon., Feb. 8.
Owners of a Pendleton-based brewery bristled at an ad that aired Jan. 24 during a nationally televised NFL playoff game and promoted Michelob ULTRA Organic Seltzer as the “only national USDA organic certified seltzer.”
That’s just not true, says Suzie’s Brewery.