Editorial

The White Cranberry Label Fable

Third Time's a Charm We know what you're thinking...how can this be cranberry juice? It isn't even red! But just wait until you taste it. This revolutionary new juice drink has the healthy goodness of traditional cranberry juice...without the tartness. It's milder, smoother and oh, so drinkable. We made it with white cranberries...that's right, white cranberries. From Ocean Spray's first harvest of the season. Try the new less tart taste of Ocean Spray White Cranberry Juice Drinks, we're sure you'll want to enjoy them again and again.

Original  Ocean Spray White Cranberry Juice Drink Label Introducing the revolutionary, smooth new taste of new Ocean Spray White cranberry Juice Drink! You've never tasted cranberry like this before! White cranberry juice drink is made with white cranberries.  These all natural, fully ripened, white cranberries come from the first harvest of the season so they're milder than traditional red cranberries. Yet you still get the healthy goodness from cranberries. Try some today...you'll just love the smooth, new, less tart taste.

Ocean Spray White Cranberry Juice Drink Label (10/8/01) We know what you're thinking...how can this be cranberry juice? It isn't even red! But just wait until you taste it. This revolutionary new juice drink has the healthy goodness of traditional cranberry juice...without the tartness. It's milder, smoother and oh, so drinkable because its made from white cranberries--that's right, white cranberries. These fully-ripened cranberries come from Ocean Spray's first harvest of the season--so they have a less tart taste that you'll want to enjoy again and again.

12/5/01 Ocean Spray has changed the label of its White Cranberry Juice for, as far as our count goes, at least the third time. Finally they have heeded the admonitions expressed in Stressline as far back as August (see archives). In September we wrote in an editorial entitled "Changing the Label of White Cranberry Juice: There's no worse stain than when it's on the reputation and credibility of a trusted company:"

Unless they can prove there is a cultivar of fully ripened white cranberries, Ocean Spray has to change the label of white cranberry juice before it's too late. They have been walking with blinders on straight into a consumer relations mine field. Worse, they will be treading into a gray area of business ethics, and opening the door to FTC intervention on truth in labeling violations.

This issue has nothing to do with the fact that I believe it is a mistake to spend so much money on a high risk venture. If they don't change their label and they garner bad publicity because they are forced by the FTC to change it, it will hurt the rollout and the image of the entire company. 

We went on to say that "Ocean Spray must be above reproach. It must not appear to be foisting off an early harvested, mature but not fully ripened cranberry as a new variety on unsuspecting and trusting consumers. Again, this will harm its own reputation as the premier cranberry company and damage the reputation of the entire cranberry industry." 

Stressline believed that unless Ocean Spray brought the label into line with the truth, it would be the subject of litigation or regulatory action. There were two easily proven lies on the first label. The first and most obvious was that the juice was made from fully ripened white cranberries. The second stated that because they came from the first harvest of the season they were milder than traditional red cranberries. Terms like mild and tart may subjective, but if a jury were asked to taste a white berry and a fully ripe red berry, their subjective opinion would be given great weight in their deliberations. 

Ocean Spray proved how easy a complete label change was when they introduced a second label in October. However, although rewritten,  the text conveyed the same untruth.

Finally, Ocean Spray has produced a label that we believe is accurate. The words fully and ripened are nowhere to be seen. It no longer states that "it's milder, smoother, and oh so drinkable because it's made from white cranberries." Instead it simply says "it's milder, smoother, and oh so drinkable" period. The last paragraph, a total falsehood on the second label, read: "These fully-ripened cranberries come from Ocean Spray's first harvest of the season--so they have a less tart taste that you'll want to enjoy again and again." Now it reads, honestly:

"Try the new less tart taste of Ocean Spray White Cranberry Juice Drinks, we're sure you'll want to enjoy them again and again."

How easy it would have been to make these changes in October when they changed the label for the first time. Stressline may never learn the reasons these changes were put off for so long, or why they were finally made. However, we have no objections to the new label, which we believe is 100% accurate.

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