April 13 (Bloomberg) -- PepsiCo Inc. sued Coca-Cola Co., accusing its rival of making false attacks on Gatorade, the top- selling sports drink in the U.S.

PepsiCo’s Stokely-Van Camp Inc. unit seeks to block Coca- Cola, the world’s largest soft-drink maker, and its Energy Brands Inc. subsidiary from running “deceptive” advertisements claiming that Powerade ION4 is superior to Gatorade. The lawsuit was filed today in federal court in Manhattan.

Gatorade controlled 77 percent of the U.S. sports drink market in 2008, according to Beverage Digest, an industry newsletter. Gatorade’s lower-calorie G2, introduced in late 2007, helped the brand gain 0.5 percentage point of share last year against Powerade, the second-best selling sports drink with 22 percent of the market.

“Defendants’ entire advertising campaign for Powerade ION4 is a calculated, intentional strategy designed to falsely and viciously attack the readily identifiable market leader, Gatorade,” according to the complaint. “It is critical that the court put an end to defendants’ deception at once.”

Atlanta-based Coca-Cola and Energy Brands have been running print and billboard ads showing a Gatorade bottle and a tagline saying the drink is “incomplete” and missing ingredients found in Powerade.

“We stand behind our product and we are prepared to defend the role that Powerade plays in hydrating consumers,” Scott Williamson, a Coca-Cola spokesman, said in a telephone interview.

PepsiCo, based in Purchase, New York, says Coca-Cola is seeking to “blitz the market” with a false claim that Gatorade is inferior because it’s missing electrolytes, “just as the biggest selling season for sports drinks is beginning.”

Recall

The false advertising lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge John Koeltl to block Coca-Cola from claiming that Powerade ION4 will improve performance better than Gatorade will and from claiming that Gatorade is “incomplete.” It also seeks an order forcing Coca-Cola to recall Powerade ION4 products with deceptive labels.

The lawsuit also seeks unspecified monetary damages.

Coca-Cola claims its sports drink is superior because Powerade ION4 contains calcium and magnesium, according to PepsiCo. PepsiCo said in an e-mailed statement that the amount of the minerals in Powerade ION4 is less than 0.5 percent of their recommended daily allowances.

“More calcium and magnesium are found in most tap water,” PepsiCo said.

PepsiCo, the world’s second-largest soft-drink maker, has revamped Gatorade’s packaging and rebranded the drink using the moniker “G” to win back consumers who left for other drinks.

The case is Stokely-Van Camp v. Coca-Cola, 09-cv-3741, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

To contact the reporters on this story: David Glovin in Manhattan federal court at dglovin@bloomberg.net; and Duane D. Stanford in Atlanta dstanford2@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: April 13, 2009 18:34 EDT