What about bottled water appeals to the average American? Why are we convinced that drinking bottled water is somehow better than drinking tap water? Below is a commercial for Aquafina water. Aquafina is the Official Bottled Water of Major League Baseball. The commercial stars Lou Piniella, who manages the Chicago Cubs.
What about this commercial convinces people that they should drink bottled water? Do they really believe bottled water will make them less irritable and crazy? Or does Aquafina's association with baseball appeal to something specific in Americans? Baseball is an all-American sport. It's America's past time. Aquafina's association with it makes the water seem family-focused. It makes Aquafina seem like part of the American experience, watching baseball, watching crazy coaches yell at the refs, watching Aquafina water soothe his nerves, and watching the game go on. Even though Aquafina isn't putting itself in the hands of a mother or a child in this commercial, it's linking itself to a greater American icon, irresistible even to people trying to cut down on monthly expenses or save the environment. This commercial makes Aquafina seem like a commodity. Watching televised sports is a favorite activity of Americans, and if this commercial came on in the middle of a Red Sox games, the viewers might believe that drinking Aquafina is an integral part of the baseball viewing experience.
While Aquafina maintains an all American image, waters like Fiji and Evian have a reputation of being exotic. Fiji water comes from the island of Fiji, but is, like all water, just water. It's not all that different from Dasani and Aquafina. It isn't fortified with vitamins, and it doesn't have flavoring or bubbles. Fiji also advertises much less than these other waters. Their bottles, however, function as advertisements more so than the others. Below is a Fiji water bottle.
It has beautiful colors, bold lettering, and the ultimate description, "Artesian water." Artesian wells or aquifers are wells drilled or naturally formed perpendicularly to a water source. The water is pressurized in the earth, and flows from the ground up and out into the open. Apparently, the Fiji company collects water from artesian wells, but the water is probably not that different from water collected from other types of wells or underground deposits. It hydrates just like tap water. Many Americans probably don't even know what artesian wells are. I didn't until a few days ago. However, the name sounds incredibly exotic. It sounds like Artistic or Parisian, words that hold great meaning and connotations. They have reputations in a way, in that when I hear the word "artistic" I think of interesting, beautiful things. When I hear "Parisian" I think of elegance. The word Artesian happens to relate to water, and it happens to sound exotic, and even if these things are coincidences, coupled with the stunning bottle, it makes Fiji seem like the ultimate water. It's like a little burst of tropical sunlight, of island-induced happiness. Drinking Fiji water in the middle of the New England winter might make someone feel like they have their own piece of paradise and luxury. They could easily reuse the Fiji bottle, fill it up with tap water, but the colors and fancy words would remain. Drinking Fiji water can also be a sign of status, as it tends to be more expensive than other waters, and its reputation and unique bottles continue to promote it. When someone at the gym puts a Fiji bottle down while lifting weights, others might notice its bright colors and fancy lettering, and when they see it at the supermarket later, they might investigate the exotic H2O.
I went on the website of Fiji and found it to be modern and minimalist. It plays ethereal music, and shows synthetic waves drifting around a bottle of water. Even more interesting, the bottle displayed says "Natural Artesian Water" rather than just "Artesian Water." Nowadays, the words "natural" and "organic" carry immense weight. Eating naturally or organically is all the rage, and so apparently Fiji water is now no longer artificial, but natural. Overall, Fiji seems to be appealing to those of us looking for something new and special in our lives. It's beautiful, it's exotic, it makes us forget we're just boring old Americans with normal lives in cold New England. As a final note, Fiji's website says the water is drawn from an artesian aquifer, at "the very edge of a primitive rainforest, hundreds of miles away from the nearest continent." This phrase makes almost no sense. Even though Fiji isn't its own continent, it is still a land mass, and it's still populated. Apparently continents mean pollution and human contact, so the fact the Fiji isn't on a continent supposedly makes it fresher. Also, rain forests can't really be primitive. It seems they're using primitive as a way to say untouched or unblemished, but primitive is more effective in selling water as it makes it seem more pure, just simple water. A primitive rainforest would be one completely unaffected by outside forces, including evolution, but in selling water, a primitive source would be the ultimate in freshness.
Fiji has a ridiculous way of marketing its product (they have a "why we're green page") and a horrible grasp on the english language, but I admire the way they sell their water. They don't have commercials on during baseball games or any sports for that matter. I don't think they even advertise on television, but they're certainly doing something right, and they're doing it in a low impact, low annoyance way. They've figured out the trick to preventing consumers' immunity to advertisements, as Fiji continues to be popular. I wonder what Klein would say about this brand and the way they advertise and sell themselves. How has their brand name and image developed over the years?
Poland Springs has taken a different approach to advertisement. All I could find online were fake Poland Spring commercials, created for various multimedia classes across the country, but looking at their website I could infer a few things about their advertising techniques. From what I can recall also from commercials, Poland Springs has marketed itself as being water for the outdoorsy and the adventurous. It isn't particularly fancy, but its pure, it's convenient, and its from good old Maine. Lately, Poland Springs seems to be marketing to families or people who consider themselves low maintainance but busy and active. The bottles aren't fancy shapes for the sake of being fancy, but are odd shapes for convenience. On their website, the products page brings you to a bunch of water bottle outlines. There are 13 total water bottles of different sizes and shapes. Each one "speaks" when the mouse rolls over it. A little speech bubble appears saying things such as "I live in your fridge" and "small bags love me." There's a new bottle that says "I'm stackable". It had a top that fits into the bottom of another bottle, for easy and efficient storage. About half of them focus on the environment and say things like, "Less plastic, better environment." Above all these bottles is a blurb that says "Poland Spring Brand Natural Spring Water offers naturally great tasting, bottled water to fit every occassion in your life." It gives the vibe of being family oriented and open. It wants to be there for everyone, people who want to save the environment and those who want to save space in their garages. Lately Poland Spring has done an amazing job of marketing their "Eco-shape" bottle. It has a smaller cap, smaller label and a curvy plastic-saving shape. Apparently it is made with 30% less plastic than other water bottles.
On the left is the old Poland Spring bottle, and on the right is the new bottle. I'm not sure whether or not the old ones are even sold anymore, but they've maintained the same logo and advertising power of the Poland Spring green landscape logo, while changing the shape enough for people to recognize its renovation. The above bottle doesn't point out the new smaller cap, but recent bottles have a small cap. What's funny is that the small cap is harder to grasp than the old cap, so the only reason I noticed it was smaller was because I frustratingly stared at the bottle after having attempted to open it a few times, and saw a little blurb on it saying the cap was smaller for environmental purposes. Then I realized I was attempting to drink bottled water when I could be drinking from a tap filled Sigg bottle, and I put it back unopened.
Below is a final tidbit on Poland Springs. This ad was for the new bottle. It maintains its natural environment focus, prevalent in most Poland Spring ads, while showcasing its new modern shape. Needless to say I don't think the new bottle would really do that much better if deposited in a landfill or dropped in that beautiful stream displayed on the bottle. However, Poland Springs seems like a caring brand, one looking out for its customers and its earth.
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