On Wenesday 11th June 2008, when this page was at www.bifidusactiregularis.com, this site was contacted by lawyers representing Danone. They demanded that the domain name bifidusdigestivum.com was given to them within eight days or they would pursue full legal action. Among their comments were that this site could be mistaken as being owned by or affiliated with Danone (very, very unlikely), and that this site is gaining a competitive advantage by using one of Danone’s Trademarks (untrue as it does not sell yoghurt and has no advertising on it – this site makes no money). Danone were offered a place to comment on what Bifidus Regularis, Actiregularis, Digestivum, Essensis etc. are, and also to comment on the language and imagery used in their advertising. No reply has been received, but this site will be updated as and when this happens.
Update : 29th July 2008
Danone chose not to make a comment on their products. After negotations with Danone’s lawyers it was agreed that the domains be given to Danone due to clear legal precedent in trademark law. The site has been moved to bifidobacteriumanimalis.com as this uses purely scientific taxonomy – therefore it is not, and cannot become, a trademark of Danone. The lawyers also asked this site to make a number of undertakings such as not talking about their products again. Because this site is not set up to denigrate Danone, explicitly states that it is not in any way affiliated with Danone, and does not gain any commercial advantage from association with Danone’s products, these undertakings were not given.
Update: 3rd January 2010
The site has been moved again, this time to whatisbifidusregularis.org – it was felt that because this is a question, and because there is a prominent disclaimer about the site not begin affiliated with Danone / Dannon, this could in no way lead to confusion that the site was benefitting in any way from the trademark.
Comments
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Posted by Dannon’s Marketing Ploy « Good Food 4 All on 10th August 2010
I just got off th ephone from Dannon as I had not read this site until today. I questioned them about the bifidus regularis as I am writing an article for a local health food store. The end result is they would not admit to making up the species for marketing purposes. They must think we are ignorant here in the United States and can only understand the regularias for the simple mindedness it suggests.
I , for one, agree buy any good brand yogurt. Personally only organic is the right choice, especially for children. Dannon has gotten away with this long enough.
Posted by GA Hamilton on 9th August 2010
Bravo! Down with Managmentus Ignorentiass & their bovine excrement!
Posted by Bibs on 8th August 2010
There are much better yogurts on the market, sold at fairer prices and that use less packaging than Dannon’s Activia. I find it reprehensible that marketing people would take liberty with the taxonomic nomenclature naming system which was designed centuries ago to prevent confusion over common names, and standardize names of living things across all languages. How arrogant of a yogurt marketer to think they can fool the public. Well, looking at Activia sales figures, I guess they have fooled the public. I will never purchase another Dannon product. I will not be their fool. Any decent yogurt will do exactly the same thing for a person’s digestive system.
Posted by Christy on 30th July 2010
I’m not sure I agree that they’re insulting people’s intelligence or talking down to people. Use of pseudoscientific names in advertising is disturbingly widespread and can’t really be called anything other than a comforting dash of “science” to back up their claims. This isn’t the worst I’ve seen but it is pretty annoying.
Posted by Peter on 12th July 2010
Good for you. I saw the Dannon ad, and realized that the term was clearly a marketing ploy. So I Googled it, and your site was the first hit. While I am sure that their product has its benefits, I resent being treated like an idiot by companies who do this sort of thing, and the net result is that I WILL NOT BUY THEIR PRODUCTS. As I say, not because the product is bad (I don’t know, never will), but because they use these misleading and idiotic tactics. So, heads up Dannon and all the other companies that do this sort of thing: I am one of many who actively boycott companies who insult my intelligence. I also make a point of sending a note to all my contacts when I do this and they, in turn, spread the information. There is nothing like the power of word of mouth.
Posted by David on 29th April 2010
Just wanted to make a comment regarding the actions of Dannon, and how utterly ridiculous it is to begin with. This site was obviously intended to create awareness for the bacteria which benefit our digestive systems,and just so happens to be used by Dannon. I actually found the site doing a search for “bifidus” as I was reading a book on alternate health practices and a compound is mentioned by this name. I agree with Sharman and Dansworld, all the companies using product names that have a scientific “ring” to them and stating the superiority of a product is getting abused. I definitely wouldn’t want to limit our freedom of speech, but I do wish the courts would keep things in check, like striking down lawsuits such as the one the owners of this site have incurred and being generous with counter suits as from the defendants as well. The only time a company should be able to develop a scientific label for a product is the cases in which a new compound is developed or an existing one is metabolized into the active form in the body (a so called pro-drug). Either way, this lawsuit sounds like garbage and I’ll remember to put the Dannon products back and take my money elsewhere. With so many people suffering from digestive disorders, any attempt to disrupt useful information in the name of profit is an outrage.
Posted by Johnnie M on 12th March 2010
I really like the way the “Active Ingedient” has changed through the years as to give a sense of there being a top secret lab somewhere of which has the top scientists from around the world concucting some fabulous food that is so amazing and then someone tweeks it to bring it to perfection.
If there was some sort of way of banning adverts that have an amazing way of trying to fix something that isn’t broken by just putting a sticker on the packet and saying “hey … Our product has a sticker on it! Thus prooving its an all round better product” I would ban them in a blink of an eye.
Awesome site by the way. Really like the whole idea and its a shame that companies have such a grasp on the right to freedom of speech when it comes to these things. Oh well thats pride (money) for ya!
Posted by Joe Sharman on 23rd February 2010
I agree completely…I found your website after a websearch for “bifreg” specifically wishing to see if anyone has taken the effort to debunk this clearly fabricated name for what is a natural organism (which already HAD a name). They truly are dumbing down for a specific audience whom they obviously do not credit for having the intelligence to understand the facts. Marketing professionals are usually guilty of slanting the message in their product’s direction by creating some method (fabricated or otherwise) to prove their product’s superiority. I cringe every time I hear that famous spokesperson say the word.
Posted by Dansworld on 12th February 2010
I like the product but, I agree the bifidus word they made up is insulting and is a talking down to people that want to trust the company. Treating people as uneducated and selling a common product with a fancy name. Sadly the product tastes really good. Wish they could just sell it as good tasting yogurt, which is all it is.
Posted by Donna on 8th February 2010
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