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May 10, 2007
Is Pinkberry Fakeberry?
Call it overpriced. Call it overrated. Call it crappy, sour-priced crud. But call it deceptive? Bryan Williams thinks so, and that's why the West Hollywood "legal recruiter" is suing Pinkberry, the newest craze in frozen dessert treats.
Williams' lawsuit does not ask for punitive damages. He simply wants the wildly successful yogurt chain to tone down its claims that the product is frozen yogurt.
A statement from a California Department of Food and Agriculture spokesman seems to back him up. "You can't call a product frozen yogurt unless it's mixed off-site and delivered to the site as frozen yogurt," says Steve Lyle. If this is true, doesn't it apply equally to all frozen yogurt purveyors and not only Pinkberry?
Personally, I hate Pinkberry. I think it tastes disgusting and sour and gross, but that's merely a matter of personal taste. What can't be denied is the way this chemically concocted product is marketed as a "healthy" "all natural" treat, when it is in fact made from powdered milk, chemicals, flavoring agents and sugar.
The most interesting aspect of Pinkberry's success is how it proves that when you slap terms like "natural," "low calorie," "no fat" and "sugar free" onto any food product, a nation of people who probably can't answer yes to the question Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader will think that crap is healthy. Your average scoop of gelato or high-end ice cream -- the kind made only from milk and ingredients like genuine fruit/chocolate/nuts/etc. -- is a hell of a lot more natural!
Frozen or otherwise, real yogurt -- a dairy product produced by the bacterial fermentation of milk -- bears little resemblance to the sweetened, frozen ice milk that Pinkberry is pimping.
For a funny filmic tie-in, check out the 1985 film The Stuff, a movie about an addictive, yogurt-like goo that Americans literally eat up without realizing that it is taking over their brains and turning them into zombies. Written and directed by the great Larry Cohen, The Stuff is most obviously a metaphor for cocaine. But given Crackberry's rabid devotees -- lines often stretch out the door and around the door at Pinkberry's flagship WeHo locale -- the film looks eerily prescient.
The underlying message of The Stuff seems as apt today as it did in 1985: the products may change, but the will of people to be deceived by them never does.
Pinkberry photo by Ned Raggett
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pinkberry, or that imitation roseberry. Whatever they're all crap and they're all an imitation of the good stuff, which can be found at the the likes of a Scoops or Pazzo Gelato near you.
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I actually saw "The Stuff" at the theaters back in the day. I was one of 3 people in there of course.
I'm glad there are people actually doing something about all the misadvertisement, misinformation companies are passing off to the public. The sad thing about it is the public is to stupid to figure it out for themselves.
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Regular yogurt actually has a tart taste to it, very similar to Pinkberry. I'm not defending Pinkberry regarding the issue of healthy or misleading info, but as far as taste goes it is the closest thing to real frozen yogurt I've tasted. Freeze a container of yogurt then throw it (the yogurt, not the container) into a blender and you'll see what I mean.
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"The Stuff" is such a great movie.
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I f--ken hate pinkberry. It tastes like powdery crap. Elina, thank you for exposing their bogus ways!
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I smell all the time
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so whats in it? wheres the substance to this post. pinkeberry is actually composed of what?
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It's water mostly and powder chemicals and a little milk... they are not selling frozen yogurt.. they do sell fresh fruit, which is very good for you...BUT it isn't REAL frozen yogurt that it sit's on thats forsure!!! they should not be aloud to use's "all natural frozen yogurt" on there cups or any advertment. I paid alot of money going there and now I my money back..
I always asked for a nutritional on the size's I purchased and never got an answer. Should of known something was up right there and then.
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That seems like a dumb rule. If you make it in a store, then it's not yogurt, but if you make it somewhere else and deliver it to the store, then it is?
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I like Pinkberry and its a shame what's come to light. I did enjoy frozen yogurt that tastes even better than Fakeberry up in Toronto at a chain called Yogen Fruz. Very tasty.
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There is only ONE Silky Smooth at the Beverly Center...once you've had Silky, you'll never think twice about any 'berry place again.
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMahvelous!!!!!!!!
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These Fakeberry people are a bunch of idiots. Looking at their "updated" website, they're avoiding the whole situationa at hand. I don't think anyone ever accused them of not being natural or "wholesome", the million dollar question is, are they or are they not yogurt. Answer the question, you trendy bastards.
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I want my money back from Fakeberry. Actually, the thing about all this is that tons of people have been eating fresh fruit and berries which are really good for you, so hats off to Pinkberry for faking us into eating healthy. In the meantime we are all looking around in case Pinkberry does a dive off the deep end, so far, the best of the best is a chain up in Toronto called Yogen Fruz. Let's hope Yogen Fruz comes to LA or San Fran or the OC.
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I LOVE the taste and texture of Pinkberry! I don't care if it is yogurt or not. It is a great frozen dessert. It only has 25 calories per ounce, 0 Fat, only 5 grams of carbo's and contains protein. I hate people and critics who try to take down anything that is successful and popular.
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C'mon folks before you come to make some of these wild accusations, read the LA Times article again. It is made from REAL YOGURT. If it's made from REAL YOGURT than it has the active cultures. The issue with the state is that it was made on site. If they take the same ingredients and mix it off site than they can call it frozen yogurt. Does that really make any sense? And so what if it's mixed with some powder. Obviously that is their secret ingredient that gives it the distinct flavor. REAL YOGURT plus some powder and nonfat milk still makes it yogurt. Uhmmmmm if you think about it, tea, coffee, Coca Cola or just about anything is made from some form of powder. Cinnamon is a powder, paprika is a powder. Heck, isn't sugar a form of powder? Do you think Pinkberry would call something NATURAL and leave them open to fraud? Judging by the lines at my local Pinkberry, this article hasn't fazed them one bit. In fact the lines have gotten longer.
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C'mon folks before you come to make some of these wild accusations, read the LA Times article again. It is made from REAL YOGURT. If it's made from REAL YOGURT than it has the active cultures. The issue with the state is that it was made on site. If they take the same ingredients and mix it off site than they can call it frozen yogurt. Does that really make any sense? And so what if it's mixed with some powder. Obviously that is their secret ingredient that gives it the distinct flavor. REAL YOGURT plus some powder and nonfat milk still makes it yogurt. Uhmmmmm if you think about it, tea, coffee, Coca Cola or just about anything is made from some form of powder. Cinnamon is a powder, paprika is a powder. Heck, isn't sugar a form of powder? Do you think Pinkberry would call something NATURAL and leave them open to fraud? Judging by the lines at my local Pinkberry, this article hasn't fazed them one bit. In fact the lines have gotten longer.
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I love on their website how they say claims have been made about the 'nature' of the product, how they assure it is wholesome and fresh, and that they look forward to being able to demonstrate the quality of the product. I smell a rat.
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Pinkberry or PinkScary
It’s Candy in a cup…
One 13-ounce large size has 65 grams of sugar. That’s 16 teaspoons of sugar and 300 calories in just the yogurt.
One 8-ounce medium size has 40 grams of sugar, which equals 10 teaspoons of sugar for 200 calories.
The sugary toppings like white chocolate add even more sugar and fat.
Just go have an icecream...
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It’s Candy in a cup…
According to the nutritional information on the Pinkberry website:
One 13-ounce large size has 65 grams of sugar. That’s 16 teaspoons of sugar (one third cup) and 300 calories in just the yogurt.
One 8-ounce medium size has 40 grams of sugar, which equals 10 teaspoons of sugar for 200 calories.
The yogurt is nonfat but the toppings can be full fat and full sugar.
Pinkberry has yet to release the ingredients in their yogurt so we can’t be sure if it’s even really yogurt.
Pinkberry is loaded with sugar and hidden ingredients. It’s not a healthy snack, it’s a desert.
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i haven't tried it yet, but i am glad i started to read this article and others as well. i can't believe their trying to fool people! i don't think i want to try it now if it tastes like sour powder crap! thanks elina :)
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I know it's en vogue to dislike Pinkberry if you're an adolescent tween but it IS yogurt because it has live and active cultures (2nd most pevalent ingredient behind skim milk). It's under 100 calories per serving. Sure the real fruit topping adds to it but if that's your biggest problem then you've been in LA TOO LONG. Real life is not a Desperate Houewives episode. Maybe you need a date?
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For you stupid people out there who think Pinkberry is fake, please, get a life ! Pinkberry is not fake! If you actually do something productive, like foresay go through their website and actually look at their ingredients, its stated that its 100% NATURAL ! Instead of believing the despicable rumors that people behind computers put, maybe you should look at the truth for yourselves instead of being a gullible bastard ! The founders worked hard, and still are, but its pointless to sue someone or something as big as pinkberry and state that its unnatural, when in fact, the website for Pinkberry has listed its ingredients from day one they created the website. So get a life and off the computer and get some pinkberry instead of hating it for being popular and delicious and successful ! (: PEACE!~