Athletic Greens (now rebranded as AG1) has spent years positioning itself as the future of foundational nutrition: one daily scoop delivering “clinically proven” health benefits.
The green supplement built a billion-dollar empire on influencer trust, podcast dominance, and the promise of better living for around $3 a day. But as the company shifts to a more “science-first” message in 2025, a deeper look reveals a brand trying to reinvent itself amid growing scrutiny of its scientific and ethical foundations.
In an appearance on a recent business podcast, Kat Cole, CEO of AG1, shared a bold strategic decision that sets the premium supplement brand apart from its competitors.
While many consumer health companies double down on influencer marketing and aggressive advertising, AG1 took a different path in 2025. They pulled back marketing investment by 40% to focus on something more foundational: science.
“We pulled back marketing investment 40% to focus on executing product launches, executing channel launches and building the story around the real work of quality science and research,” Cole explained during the interview.
The investment paid off in a tangible way. AG1 committed over $10 million to four double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled human clinical trials—the gold standard in scientific research. This level of investment is extraordinarily rare in the supplement industry, where most brands simply reference existing studies on individual ingredients rather than testing their actual products.
Cole described how this science-first strategy permeated every aspect of their marketing approach. They invested millions in out-of-home advertising featuring messaging like “please enjoy your randomized double blind placebo-controlled daily health drink”—a tongue-in-cheek reference that simultaneously educated consumers about their commitment to research while standing out in a crowded market.
The strategy extended beyond billboards. Instead of partnering with athletes for endorsement deals, AG1 took an unconventional approach by creating NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) deals with nutrition students. They had college students studying nutrition put on jerseys and sign up as brand ambassadors, creating an authentic connection between the product and the academic study of nutritional science.
The results suggest the strategy is working. Despite the reduced marketing spend for much of the year, AG1 reported being up almost 40% year-over-year on Black Friday—a day that serves as a key indicator of brand health in the consumer goods sector. Cole attributed much of this growth to product innovation, including the launch of AG1’s first truly second brand, AGZ (a melatonin-free nighttime supplement), new flavors, and expansion into major retailers like Costco.
However, investigative journalism has revealed that the scientific claims underpinning this wellness juggernaut are far less substantial than their marketing suggests.
The company’s website features flashy graphics and bold assertions about filling nutrient gaps and multiplying healthy gut bacteria tenfold. They claim their product is backed by randomized, double-blind, and triple-blind studies involving 157 participants across four clinical trials.
Yet when investigators requested access to this research, they encountered a conspicuous problem: the studies weren’t publicly available.
AG1’s PR team explained that their “gold standard science” hadn’t yet completed peer review, making it unavailable for scrutiny—despite the company actively using these unpublished results in their marketing materials. Independent analysis uncovered only one published human study funded by AG1: a trial examining the supplement’s effects on gut microbiome in healthy adults.
The results were underwhelming at best. The study found no significant changes in microbiome diversity between the AG1 group and the placebo group. Stool consistency remained unchanged, and participants’ quality of life assessments showed no meaningful improvement.
The study’s own conclusion admitted that “alpha diversity did not change significantly in the two groups,” essentially confirming that AG1 didn’t accomplish what its marketing promised.
Perhaps most troubling was the study’s design. Researchers used maltodextrin as their placebo—a choice they acknowledged was “not entirely inert” and known to negatively affect the gut microbiome.
Independent research has shown that 63% of studies using maltodextrin as a placebo produce skewed results because the placebo itself causes measurable harm. By selecting a placebo known to have negative effects, AG1 stacked the deck in favor of their product appearing beneficial by comparison—a fundamental violation of objective scientific methodology.
The company’s scientific credibility is further undermined by significant conflicts of interest. Major promoters like Andrew Huberman and Peter Attia aren’t just endorsers—they’re investors and advisers to the company. This arrangement transforms what appears to be independent scientific endorsement into paid promotion disguised as expert opinion.
The real harm isn’t necessarily physical; AG1’s own research suggests the powder is safe, if ineffective. The damage is to consumer discernment. When people fall for slick marketing masquerading as rigorous science, they become more vulnerable to other wellness industry manipulations. In an era when health misinformation spreads rapidly online, AG1’s junk science claims contribute to eroding the public’s ability to distinguish legitimate research from corporate-funded marketing materials designed to look like peer-reviewed science.
Adding to the scrutiny is AG1’s founder, Chris Ashenden, whose past is conspicuously absent from mainstream coverage. Ashenden Zealand after being convicted on 43 breaches of the New Zealand Fair Trading Act for running a predatory rent-to-own real estate scheme.
According to court documents from the New Zealand Department of Justice, Ashenden’s scheme targeted vulnerable people with promises of home ownership through a rental arrangement. The reality was far darker. Renters paid above-market rent while Ashenden retained ownership of all property deeds. The contracts were designed to fail: miss a payment by more than 28 days, leave the property for 30 days, or make unauthorized improvements over a 30-year period, and Ashenden’s company could seize the home and keep all payments made. The New Zealand court judgment stated that Ashenden displayed “strong elements of cynicism and the calculated exploitation of people struggling financially.”
When the legal situation deteriorated, Ashenden dismissed his lawyers, filed for bankruptcy, and left the country. The New Zealand Department of Justice noted that “Mr Ashenden’s alleged creditors point to a complex structure designed primarily to confuse the courts and make it difficult to enforce the judgment.”
Ashenden arrived in America in 2011, $5 million in debt, and discovered the virtually unregulated supplement industry—a perfect environment for someone fleeing accountability. Unlike pharmaceuticals, supplements require no FDA approval and can make broad health claims without evidence. The Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 allows companies to make “structure function claims” without proving efficacy.
Ashenden’s strategy was brilliant in its simplicity: partner with influential health and fitness personalities, offering them affiliate commissions for promoting his proprietary blend of 75 ingredients. He secured endorsements from figures like Tim Ferriss, Andrew Huberman, and Peter Attia, spending reportedly $2.1 million monthly on affiliate advertising. The company thrived by filling a sponsorship void for content creators seeking revenue.
However, questions persist. AG1 settled a 2015 lawsuit over high lead content for $78,000 and agreed to include lead exposure warnings—but only in California. A 2020 lawsuit by former employee Travis Edwards alleged the company shipped moldy ingredients to customers after he reported the issue, leading to his termination. The FDA has received 63 official complaints against the brand.
What’s most remarkable is how thoroughly this history has been scrubbed from public discourse. When investigative journalist Scott Carney began reporting on this story, AG1 retained Megan Meyer to challenge his reporting. He is one of America’s most powerful defamation lawyers, who secured the $787 million settlement against Fox News in the Dominion case.