Bang Energy Drink Makers Accused of Misleading Advertisements

VPX Sports, the makers of Bang energy drink, and its Chief Scientific Officer and owner John Owoc have been named defendants in a new lawsuit filed in U.S. District for the Central District of California.

The Bang energy drink lawsuit, filed by the Monster Energy Co. on Sept. 5, alleges that the manufacturers of Bang disseminate false and misleading advertising in violation of the law.

The Claims Against the Makers of Bank Energy Drink

Monster Energy Co. alleges that the defendants which do business as VPX Sports are attempting to compete with them unfairly, according to a report by Law360.

They claim they are doing this by not only making backhanded disparaging and unproven comments about their Monster energy drink products but by also presenting Bang energy drink products as a cure-all.

The plaintiff company claims that VPX Sports has set up a false and misleading advertising campaign that paints the Bang energy drink as a potion that will treat disease states whose cure has remained outside the reach of the brightest scientific minds.

According to the lawsuit narrative and report from Law360, VPX Sports promotes its product line of the Bang energy drink to have an ingredient known as “Super-Creatine” which is nothing more than their patented version of a water-soluble creatine. VPX Sports supposedly says that this ingredient is 20 times more effective in reaching and affecting brain tissue than normal creatine.

The manufacturer purportedly goes on to indicate that this potent form of creatine can reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, and other degenerative conditions of the brain. The company also indicates that the ingredient can stop mental retardation.

Additionally, the Monster Energy Co. claims in its case against this market rival that they claim a second miraculous ingredient known as branched-chain amino acids. Some of the advertised benefits of this ingredient include increases in muscle mass.

The plaintiff purports that the amount of “Super-Creatine” and branched-chain amino acids in Bang energy drink products are miniscule when compared to what would be actually needed to gain effective health benefits. In the factual allegations section of the case, it states that the trace amounts are 100 times less than what would be needed. Yet on every can, VPX Sports allegedly advertises these ingredients and calls the drinks “potent brain and body fuel.”

“Defendants VPX and Owoc sell BANG by misleading and deceiving the public about the product’s ingredients and the benefits of consumption,” the complaint reads. “Simply put, Defendants’ advertising and marketing scheme tricks consumers into believing they are getting something they are not.”

The lawsuit brings causes of action against VPX Sports and its owner for false advertising under the federal Lanham Act, violation of California unfair competition and false advertising laws, and trade libel. It seeks an injunction from the court to get the company to stop promoting ingredients in healthful quantities that it lacks.

The Bang Energy Drink Lawsuit is Monster Energy Co. v. Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc., et al., Case No. 5:18-cv-01882 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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If you purchased Bang Energy drink because of its health claims, you may qualify to file a Bang Energy Drink class action lawsuit.

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