Bottled Water: Marketing Trick of the Century...Investopedia

[Stuart G]

http://www.investopedia.com/news/bottled-water-marketing-trick-century/?partner=YahooSA&yptr=yahoo

By Shoshanna Delventhal | March 11, 2017 — 12:22 PM EST
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After decades of strong growth, bottled water has surpassed soda as the largest beverage category in the U.S., according to a recent report by research and consulting firm Beverage Marketing Corporation.

Bottled water consumption hit a high of 39.3 gallons per capita last year. Over the same period, soda sales slipped to 38.5 gallons per capita, compared to 50+ gallons gulped down per capita in the late 1990s. The shift has been driven by a myriad of factors, including widespread concerns about the health of sugar and artificial flavorings and local soda taxes. (See also: Beer, Soda Cos. Get in on Sparking Water Trend.)


Tap Water Alternative as Soda Replacement

“Bottled water effectively reshaped the beverage marketplace,” said Michael C. Bellas, Beverage Marketing’s chairman and chief executive. “When Perrier first entered the country in the 1970s, few would have predicted the heights to which bottled water would eventually climb.” In other words, Bellas was speaking to the long tradition of drinking clean, free tap water. “Where once it would have been unimaginable to see Americans walking down the street carrying plastic bottles of water, or driving around with them in their cars’ cup holders, now that’s the norm.”

“The marking trick of the century” said John Jewell of The Week in 2014, relies on convincing consumers that bottled water is a healthier alternative to soda, when in reality it is an alternative to tap water. As consumers shied away from sugary soft drinks, major beverage businesses were able to play on the habit of buying a beverage by bottling a nearly free commodity in plastic and printing a label on it. Perhaps the greatest irony is that buying bottled water works against the goals of “health and eco-conscious” consumers by contributing to environmental degradation, supporting large corporations and spending 2,000 times what they would have compared to tap water, writes Business Insider.

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I had to post this here, just to let you know that politics is not the only area where people are conned. Where I live , the water is guaranteed clean. Our community gets it from Evanston Illinois, where they get it from Lake Michigan. You had better believe that it is ok to drink. But, as said above, and discussed in the article, some people are willing to pay..2000 times more than if they got it from the tap. That is indeed, "The Con of the Century" ...Very Interesting Article...

[temporary311]

1. It's generally a rip off, yeah.

I used to think bottle water was pretty stupid. Then one particularly hot summer, the water coming out of the tap started tasting like gym sock. Or was it potting soil? Or maybe bleu cheese. In any event, I found bottled water a bit less stupid after that.

[blue sky at night]

2. we drink and cook with bottled water...

it comes in five gallon carboys that are used over and over. ($3.50 for five gallons) The worst part of small bottles is they are plastic that probably just goes in the landfill...not good. Our well water is not tasty and full of minerals so we soften it but don't want to drink it.

[Stuart G]

4. Yes, I can understand .."well water" but..

why does this "bottled water" sell in cities and towns that get water from sources that have no minerals and tastes totally like, "water"?

[former9thward]

15. Because people want something "pure".

And since they are mineral deficient since they don't drink tap water (yes your tap water has minerals as it should) they then pay for vitamins to give them the same minerals.

[Stuart G]

16. Good Point...thanks for posting..

[k8conant]

17. but that's usually chlorinated!

I do know people on city water who filter their water (Britta pitchers, or whatever).

I sometimes use the Pur filter on my kitchen tap, sometimes not. I think my well water is fine, but my son claims the filter makes it taste cleaner.

Funny thing: I was surprised when I first drank our well water (31 years ago) because it had no taste! I realized then that I had grown up (in Dearborn, Michigan) drinking chlorinated water and thought that water should taste like chlorine.

[speaktruthtopower]

3. That's not that bad

http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/15/asia/china-canadian-company-selling-clean-air/

[Stuart G]

6. I saw that one earlier...hard to believe..nt

[malaise]

5. Many years ago a good friend sent me an email

asking me to spell Naive backwards to figure out the bottled water craze.

[Stuart G]

8. In relation to the "bottled water craze"..Consumer Reports

did a study many years ago, about the best tasting and cleanest water for towns and cities..Now this was at least 10 years ago, maybe more..But I recall clearly the best in the nation then, was New York City tap water that comes from reservoirs far from the city..Yea..New York City tap water..best compared to all other cities and towns.., and the bottled water too..

[malaise]

10. We have lovely water in

Jamaica but there are lots of people who have problems accessing good pipe water

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

7. Gazillions of plastic bottles.

Drinking more water is probably good, and the bottled water industry did contribute to that, although I do object to their dishonestly in trying to get people to think the water they're getting is better than is in most cases is.

The fact of all those damn plastic bottles, most of which are unfortunately not being recycled, is what is most concerning to me.

[Stuart G]

9. I agree...literally tens of millions of plastic bottles, or is it hundreds of millions? nt

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

13. I'm not exactly sure how many a gazillion is, but I'm standing by that number.

The yoga studio I attend has a sign up saying they are a "plastic water bottle-free zone," with a polite note asking people please not to buy them, but if they must, at least don't bring them there.

[politicat]

11. I haven't used bottled water in decades, but I grew up with it. For reasons.

I grew up primarily in Southern Arizona, where the tap water is legally clean, but because of the heat has to be heavily chlorinated, so tastes terrible, and has a tendency to carry cryptosporidium even when well treated. Crypto can be debilitating or deadly for the immunocompromised. The other place I spent extended time was on my grandparents' farm, which uses well water, and the entire aquifer for the region is contaminated with nitrates due to fertilizer runoff.

I was born in the 70s, and one of the first generation of babies to get a blue baby syndrome diagnosis. After that, my grandparents got a Culligan subscription, in a time when only businesses had water coolers. Through the 70s and 80s, we always had a blue lexan bottle of drinking water, and there was a thriving business model of reverse osmosis "water and ice" stores in the urban desert parts of Arizona. To me, that was normal, and I didn't realize filling up the water bottles and picking up bags of ice were not on everyone's chore list until after grad school, when I moved to Colorado. And in Arizona, where it's illegal to refuse anyone a drink of water, most businesses won't install a water fountain and will charge for a cup as a means of getting around the law.

Here, my water is mountain spring and snow melt, because I live at the top of the water column, but I'm well aware that I am supremely fortunate. It's so easy for municipal systems to fail. Our cities have consistently failed to plan for the maintenance required to maintain our water infrastructure. Developers installed water delivery pipes with 50 year life-spans, the cities used the property tax revenue for more development instead of dropping some into a maintenance savings account and when the maintenance bill comes due, there's nothing to pay for replacing the failing service lines.

[Phoenix61]

12. I'm guilty as charged

I live in a very old section of town and the water taste just weird. They have slowly, very slowly been replacing pipes but for now I'll cook with it but just darn difficult to drink.

[delisen]

14. I buy gallons of certain spring waters, avoid water that is fluoridated

for same reasons as most European countries.

[Quixote1818]

18. Most European countries don't need to fluoridate water because it's naturally fluoridated

American water sources tends to not have much fluoride which is why it is often added: