Baloney Alert: Yogurt is yogurt. Activia is marketing hype.

“Never eat anything you’ve ever seen advertised!” Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food

Whatever happened to just eating yogurt because it’s uh, tasty … oh and it’s good for you. The cult of the culture has been a boon to Madison Avenue and the huge food conglomerates since yogurt finally appeared on the American radar in the 1970’s. Europeans had known about it for, well … hundreds of years?

As Americans, we are really good at taking a simple idea and bastardizing it beyond all belief in the rush to make money. Yogurt is one of those things. Add the fact that it’s been no so slyly marketed to women - yes, we’re all looking for that magic something that will make us forever slim - well, it’s kept more advertising account executives in BMW’s than almost anything else.

Enter Dannon’s Activa.

Jamie Lee Curtis has been telling women  - and now men and women - that a little Activa a day will keep … what at bay? Just what does Activia do for us? Beyond that graphic on the front with the pancake flat stomach with the arrow pointing down at her, uh …. what’s it all about?

Activia claimed to ‘regulate’ a woman’s digestive system - and until the FTC weighed in, nobody apparently gave a rats ass if men had unregulated digestive systems. Unfortunately, the ‘fine print’ that you had to eat no less than three cartons of the stuff daily to get that ‘effect’ was lost to most consumers, including me. I tried it for a while, my ‘digestive’ complaints, being at most vague. Finally, I decided that eating plain yogurt was just as ‘effective’ - whatever that meant - with less unneeded sugar, food coloring and artificial flavors. Certainly, the premium plain, organic Bulgarian yogurt that I have every evening is cheaper and I can flavor it with a bit of maple syrups, fresh fruit and other healthful ingredients I have handy.

In 2009, a federal court in Los Angeles heard testimony that said Activia/Dannon’s own studies didn’t back up the claims for Activia.  Yet, Activia racks up in excess of $505 million in annual sales, common sense notwithstanding, and the $35 million penalty imposed on Dannon for their exaggerated claims is chicken feed that they will call a business expense and get it back on the corporate tax bill.

“These types of misleading claims are enough to give consumers indigestion… Consumers want, and are entitled to, accurate information when it comes to their health. Companies like Dannon shouldn’t exaggerate the strength of scientific support for their products.” FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz

So now you see good old Jamie Lee telling couples that Activia will just … just … make them feel good, or something like that. Meanwhile, Dannon must remove the words “clinically”, “scientifically proven” and “immunity”  from product labels, as well as include a qualifier to its claim that its yogurt “helps strengthen your body’s defenses” or “helps support the immune system.” 

Meanwhile, back at the tee-vee, Heide Klum pitches Dan-Active for those of you who can’t figure out how to have a more or less daily dump. Again, no proof. It’s bogus.

But hey, it’s your hard-earned money.

Is there a cost-effective, and Baloney-Free way to stay, uh … regular? Of course there is! That’s why you came to Maven.

Eat a lot of whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables … plain old yogurt, if you like it.

Avoid refined grains and sugar, stuff you can’t pronounce, faux foods.

Drink plenty of water.

Get plenty of daily exercise and a good night’s sleep.

Oh, and don’t eat anything that’s advertised.

-maven