General Mills sues rival over yogurt ads

MINNEAPOLIS — General Mills has sued Chobani over an advertising campaign, saying the rival firm is wrongly comparing General Mills’ yogurt to bug spray.

The suit, filed Sunday in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis, alleges false advertising in a campaign for Chobani Simply 100, a Greek-style yogurt with 100 calories.

Chobani took the lead in the Greek yogurt business over the past seven years, gaining market share from established yogurt kings Dannon and Yoplait, which is owned by General Mills. Dannon and General Mills have fought back, and Yoplait Greek 100 has been the brand’s biggest success in Greek yogurt.

Chobani’s ads claim that Yoplait Greek 100 contains a pesticide “to kill bugs,” General Mills said in its complaint. “In fact, the television commercial that leads the Chobani Attack Campaign goes so far to convey that, because Yoplait Greek 100 is laced with a pesticide, it is so dangerous and unfit to eat that consumers should discard it as garbage.”