What sounds more natural, sugar or Truvia? Photo: truvia.com
by Eli Altman
There’s a new sweetener in town. Its name is Truvia.
Truvia is derived from a plant called stevia, which is native to Central and South America. The leaves of the plant are said to contain 30-45 times the sweetness of sucrose (we’re still not convinced this isn’t a lethal dose). So if you think sugar isn’t sweet enough, you’re in luck! Products containing stevia-based sweeteners were recently approved by the FDA and are about to hit US markets.
Truvia was developed by Coca-Cola and Cargill. Not to be outdone, Pepsi has announced their Truvia doppelganger: PureVia. While I’m definitely a fan of Coke over Pepsi, I object equally to both of these names.
Truvia and PureVia sound totally scientific. Now this can be considered a fair representation because both sweeteners were created in a lab by binding stevia with other substances like Rebaudioside A and erythritol (mmm… tasty). However, it is abundantly clear that sounding scientific and medicinal was not the intent.
If you take a look at the Truvia site, the whole brand is centered around it being natural and plant derived. The ‘About’ page says that Truvia is a “Sweetness born from a leaf, not in a lab…Who knew going green could be so good?” Who knew, indeed!
PureVia and Truvia are rough mash-ups of words that don’t belong together. It’s like when you got frustrated playing with a puzzle as a kid and tried to force the pieces to fit even though you knew they didn’t belong together. While Splenda at least has a pleasant ring to it, these two new competitors sound totally contrived. Is there anything pure or true about either of these products? PureVia even starts with the sound ‘perv’ which is never a good idea. Whether they’re just perverting sugar or something far worse, the name should have never made it though the screening process.
Combining spare parts of words like every pharmaceutical product in the last 50 years is not the way to convince consumers that your product is natural. If you want to have a natural sounding product, find a natural sounding name.
