Snapple... are you sure about the penguins? Even big brands get it wrong.

I've been drinking Snapple for a few years now. I usually stock up on grapeades when I go to the supermarket.

One interesting initiative from Snapple is including a very short curiosity under the cap of their bottles, which they call "real facts." I always read them and most are interesting. They even number them.

Once, more than a year ago, I came across one that caught my attention. It said: "The only bird that can swim and not fly is a penguin."

It really caught my attention because I know of at least one other bird with the same characteristics called the Galápagos Cormorant or Flightless Cormorant. It's not that I know much about birds, but I live near the Galápagos and I once saw the creature with my own eyes.

I immediately went to Wikipedia to verify whether this was a Snapple error and came across a page about the bird http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flightless_Cormorant

After clearing up my doubts, I set out to contact Snapple to tell them that their "real fact" wasn't so "real" after all. My concern was mainly that children drink these beverages and could be misinformed instead of learning.

I wrote an email to a Snapple address I found on their website and someone responded saying that their "real facts" had been created by people with a high degree of knowledge. Basically that was it!

I understand that customer service people don't necessarily need to know that the Galápagos Cormorant exists, but I at least expected the issue to be escalated so they could change the "real fact" to something more accurate. After all, many people might now think that the penguin is the only bird that can swim and not fly!

I had already forgotten about the matter when yesterday I saw a link on the Snapple site to some "real facts" that have been retired: http://www.snapple.com/retired-facts/

There appears the aforementioned "#121 The only bird that can swim and not fly is a penguin," which gave me some relief. At least this information will no longer continue to spread.

However, nowhere does it say that it's an erroneous statement. Could it be that it's hard for Snapple to issue a correction, or could it be that they're still sure about the penguins?