Gatorade recently handed $300,000 to California to settle false
advertising and unfair competition claims that boil down to making
water look bad. The company released an app in 2012 called
"Bolt!" that featured an animation of Jamaican Olympic
gold medalist, Usain Bolt, racing to recapture gold coins from
pirates. Gatorade icons boosted performance and water hindered
performance. The tutorial explicitly advised users, "Keep Your
Performance Level High By Avoiding Water." According to the complaint, users downloaded the app over 2.3
million times and played the game over 87 million times—and
over 70% of them were 13-24 years old.
The final judgment enjoins Gatorade from making
apps or games available for download that create the misleading
impression that water hinders or adversely affects athletic
performance, water should generally be avoided in favor of
Gatorade, athletes avoid consuming water, or water consumption
should generally be avoided. The judgment further
