MillerCoors was able to get a judge in Milwaukee, Miller\s home town, to order Anheuser-Busch to cease running its corn syrup commercials and to cease using “contains no corn syrup” packaging for Bud Light.
The corn syrup ads were false advertising, the judge found. Whether that ruling and the injunctions that resulted will be sustained was in significant doubt today after a hearing before the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The appellate judges noted that Miller itself lists corn syrup as an ingredient in its beers.
Miller’s argument is that the corn syrup campaign leads consumers to think Miller Lite and Coors Light contain high fructose corn syrup when all they really contain is plain old corn syrup.
But the argument over the merits of the case may be put on hold because U.S. Circuit Judge Frank Easterbrook questioned whether either the appeals court or the lower court had jurisdiction because the trial judge never issued a separate injunction.
Another judge, David Hamilton, wondered why, “If you’ve got Miller crediting corn for the good taste of its beers, why can’t Anheuser-Busch say what you’ve been saying, but with a sneer?” And Easterbrook wondered why, “If Miller lists an ingredient as in the product, why can’t a commercial rival do the same?”
“If I see an ingredient listed on the back of a Corn Flakes box, I expect that ingredient to be in the product,” Easterbrook added.