Rocchetta Water: Is the commercial featuring Hunziker misleading consumers?

Super light, active, capable of hydrating the skin and cleansing the body. A true "health water." Listening to the seductive voice of Michelle Hunziker in an Acqua Rocchetta commercial airing on all public and private television networks, it almost seems like we're dealing with a "miracle water."

But it's all true? And again: is it true that Acqua Rocchetta has been subjected to censure more than once in recent times by advertising control authorities and also by the Italian Competition Authority? Food Fact, In a very detailed complaint, the company warns against these claims, which would violate advertising regulations. According to these regulations, it is not permitted to attribute health benefits to mineral water without scientific evidence and official authorization. These circumstances do not exist in the case of Rocchetta water. As for its claim of being "super light," Rocchetta actually has a mineral content of 178 mg/l, a value far too high to be classified as low-mineralization and therefore "light" waters, which have a fixed residue of less than 50 mg/l, and are usually emphatically labeled "light."

Even the expression “healthy water”, As already reported by the Control Committee of the IAP (Institute of Advertising Self-Regulation), the independent body that oversees the application of the advertising self-regulation code in Italy, it could mislead consumers because it lacks supporting scientific documentation. Finally, the words uttered by the showgirl, with extreme professionalism ("it purifies me"), are incorrect because mineral water does not directly purify the body, but contributes to hydration and normal kidney function. Mineral water can promote the kidneys' natural toxin elimination processes, especially if low in sodium and with a low fixed residue, but it does not have purifying properties in the medical sense.

On the basis of these objections, Il Fatto Alimentare asked the Control Committee of the Advertising Self-Discipline Institute to immediately censor the advert, recalling the recidivism of Acqua Rocchetta, which has already been the subject of eight rulings and injunctions in the past.

Precedents do not favor CoGeDi International, the company that controls the Rocchetta brand, and this mineral water has been the target of unfair advertising more than once. In January 2025, the IAP's Control Committee issued Injunction No. 1/2025, finding that an advertisement directly associated the consumption of Rocchetta water with the prevention of kidney stones, without providing sufficient evidence to support this claim. In July 2022, another injunction (No. 21/2022) was issued against CoGeDi International SpA, regarding a message attributing Rocchetta water's skin-protective properties against free radicals, based on a scientific study deemed insufficient by the Committee. And previously, in 2004, the Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) had fined CoGeDi International SpA for misleading advertising practices regarding Rocchetta water. Despite repeated censorship, the company continued to use similar advertisements, prompting further action from the relevant authorities.

Photo taken from the “Acqua Rocchetta” commercial

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