Because of this, these companies decided to create competition with their new enemy (tap water) and manufacture a rival product, bottled water. Obviously, the consumers were shocked and hesitant to drink and invest in this new product. Water was something that they were able to get for free in seconds, just by twisting a button - did they really need to walk to the shops and waste their money on exactly the same thing?!The crazy companies managed to change our perceptions by doing one simple thing: manufacturing demand. This was done in a variety of ways...
1. Scaring People
A major part in the campaign of making people want bottled water was to tell them that tap water was dirty and unsafe, therefore making people insecure and worried about drinking tap water, and consequently chose to drink the "much safer" bottled water instead. “When we’re done,” one top water executive said, “tap water will be relegated to showers and washing dishes."
This doesn't happen any more, as tests have proved that tap water is safe, and we can buy water filters in our homes. However, this tactic definitely worked in the 1970s!
2. Images of Pure Fantasy
Additionally, these water companies hid the reality of their grim products with beautiful images of pristine seas and lakes, tropical islands and rushing streams. These places are usually never the sources of bottled water, and who really cares where water is from, as long as it's safe? Water is supposed to be tasteless, so does it really matter where the source is?
The Volvic website is a perfect example of this. Approximately every five minutes, a "volcano"erupts, and loads of happy, smiling people holding bottled water pop up, dancing to loads of instruments.
3. Misleading Us
There are hundreds of reasons why bottled water companies are misleading us, and most of which are mentioned on this blog. A few examples of these are saying that bottled water tastes better (it doesn't), that it is safer (it isn't) and that it is good for the environment (it isn't)!
Annie Leonard says: "Once they’ve manufactured all this demand, creating a new multibillion dollar market, they defend it by beating out the competition. But in this case, the competition is our basic human right to clean, safe drinking water."
We realise that in some places tap water may be unhygienic, and then it is obviously better for you to drink bottled water than tap. We would like you to remember though, that it is incredibly likely that your water has been made this way by the work of many companies, such as the bottled water industry!
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