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Blog
"Too good to be true"
April 25, 2008
My first and only Pinkberry experience (and impression) was last summer, in a fashionable mall in Huntington Beach, Calif. I was impressed with its sanitized interior, smart-looking employees, sleek menu board (with surprisingly few choices) and "salad bar" of fresh fruit -- blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, and pineapple, as I recall.
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| Unnatural: Pinkberry yogurt |
Anyway, today I learned that Pinkberry had been fooling customers into thinking they were consuming a natural, healthful product. Turns out, there isn't much natural about the yogurt. As a result of a class action suit claiming deceptive marketing, Pinkberry forked over $750,000 this month to charities.
I'd normally write off this mendacious behavior as merely being fueled by greed, and not necessarily something most foodservice executives would do -- even if they had a winning concept on their hands. (Although a restaurant executive once told me that despite customers clamoring for healthier dishes, his very successful company hadn't done a thing to modify its menus. If diners thought they had, it was the result of subtle marketing and menu language.)
But it's getting harder to hard to ignore Pinkberry's sins in light of menu labeling requirements and the arguments they have stirred in New York City and elsewhere. Consumers may smell more than one rat and suspect there's something about, say, fast-food that chains don't want us to know. Whether they (and government officials) can be convinced otherwise will depend on how truthful restaurants are about what's in their food and how easily customers can access that information.
Posted by David Farkas on April 25, 2008 | Comments (5)
In response to: "Too good to be true"
Restaurant Patron commented:
That's why I admire CKE. They never claim to be selling health foods.
In response to: "Too good to be true"
Yogurt lover commented:
I think today's consumer is more impressed by style than substance. "Don't confuse me with the facts, I have my mind made up" would likely summarize the herd mentality that thinks they are being "cool" by sporting their PinkBerry cups around town. At the end of the day, the masses will always revert back to the sugar, regardless of its chemical composition. Its all about The Fix...
In response to: "Too good to be true"
Dave commented:
I think Carl's Jr. and Hardee's are onto something, too. No apologies are made for their offerings. I agree: PinkBerry, Starbucks and (even) Dunkin' Donuts in the Northeast. Their products all send a message: "This is who I am." Marketers may not be able to create the buzz these concepts now enjoy but the savviest of them do whatever they can to foster it before time runs out.
In response to: "Too good to be true"
Orrick Nepomuceno commented:
If I am going to eat out, I want to be "bad" and treat myself something good. That is why these "health-conscious" concepts like Pinkberry and Seasons 52, just don't cut it in my book. Simply give me the foie gras, trans fats and make the fries extra crispy!
In response to: "Too good to be true"
Chicago DR commented:
www.berrychill.com Berry Chill is real yogurt with all the probiotics!