By Al Lewis — A DOW JONES NEWSWIRES COLUMN
FOXBusiness
Friday, July 31, 2009
Bottled water is one of the greatest achievements in the history of marketing.
Consumers used to slurp from a public drinking fountain for free. Now they pay as much as $40 to sip from a bottle — which is even more amazing than paying a monthly tab to watch commercials on cable TV.
You would think guys who spent decades in the advertising and public relations businesses would admire such a cunning manipulation of the free-spending American public. But not Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo.
They are lashing back at bottled water. They are even spreading lies about the product to counter depictions of mountain water falls on something that may have spewed from a city spigot.
In 2007, the duo each put down $100,000 to start Tappening.com to guide folks back to the free-flowing tap.
Now they are launching a $535,000 advertising campaign — on the Internet and on posters — to spread the unfounded accusations that bottled water “makes acid rain fall on playgrounds,” “causes blindness in puppies” and “is the primary cause of restless leg syndrome.”
They also started a new Web site called startalie.com, inviting anyone to prevaricate about bottled water.
“Bottled water has a higher content of nicotine than cigarettes,” wrote one liar. “The bottle itself is made of goats,” wrote another.
“Some advertising is simply lies,” DiMassimo explained in a press release heralding the campaign. “There are…those who admit it and those who don’t.”
And advertisers who admit their lies are probably just satirists who can’t keep a straight face.
The U.S. bottled water business gushed from 4.7 billion gallons in 2000 to nearly 8.8 billion in 2007, according to the Beverage Marketing Corp. Last year, it trickled off to about 8.7 billion.
Yaverbaum told me Tappening would like to take credit for this decline, but conceded it was more likely the recession and rising unemployment that convinced some people to quit paying for something that covers 71% of the Earth.
Joseph Doss, CEO of the International Bottled Water Association, said Tappening’s marketing strategy is misplaced.
“We don’t feel like we’re in competition with tap water,” he said. “75% of bottled water consumers also drink tap water.”
Bottled water is mostly about convenience, taste, and choosing something healthier than a soda or a beer.
It’s also quite refreshing after a hurricane, flood, fire, tsunami or earthquake has taken out the infrastructure. “Any time we’re needed, we’re” there,” said Doss.
Doss takes particular umbrage with a Tappening ad that claims bottled water is “98% melted ice caps. 2% polar bear tears.” Said Doss: “They are polarizing the issue.”
And they know exactly what they are doing, too. DiMassimo runs DiMassimo Goldstein, a marketing strategy and communications agency in New York City. Yaverbaum is the founder of Ericho Communications in White Plains, N.Y.
Yaverbaum said he simply wants all water companies to list their sources. In many cases, if consumers knew where their bottled water came from, they might decide it’s no better than tap, and decide the extra resources involved in bottling and distributing it may not be worth the toll on the environment.
“Put it on your label and I’ll disappear,” Yaverbaum said.
Plenty of bottlers are proud of their sources and list them, or indicate that their water is filtered by some process, which means their source is irrelevant, according to Doss. Discarded bottles, meanwhile, only make up 1/3 of 1% of the U.S. waste stream, he added.
Nevertheless, Yaverbaum said he co-founded Tappening.com after his teenage daughter suggested he ditch his SUV and try to do something good for the planet.
As a PR guy, he’s represented Subway (can you really lose weight eating subs?) Domino’s Pizza (DPZ: 8.23, -0.07, -0.84%) (can you imagine all the cardboard and gasoline?) and (can you believe?) Glaceau Vitaminwater.
“I learned many things from my former life that I’m using in my new life,” he explained. “But I still like making money.”
Tappening sells re-useable water bottles embossed with “What’s Tappening?” and “Think global, Drink Local” for $14.95 to $18.95 plus $3 shipping and handling.
Within 36 hours of launching Tappening.com, it sold its entire inventory, raising more than $583,000. Yaverbaum said it has since sold more than $6 million worth of bottles — a daunting war chest to keep up the fight.
All of this bottled water madness has to stop somewhere. Bling H20, which comes in a 750 ml bottle encrusted with Swarovski Crystals, sells for $40.
And then there are those machines at the gas station that charge 75 cents to pump up your tire. And those oxygen bars charging as much as $1 a minute for scented air.
Is bottled water such a crime when other people are charging for air? I asked Yaverbaum.
“Let me take back our water first,” said Yaverbaum, “then I’ll move on to air.”
(Al’s Emporium, written by Dow Jones Newswires columnist Al Lewis, offers commentary and analysis on a wide range of business subjects through an unconventional perspective. The column is published each Tuesday and Thursday at 9 a.m. ET. Contact Al at al.lewis@dowjones.com or tellittoal.com)