Bottled water has become ridiculously popular over the past decade or so, not only in the USA where the trend started, but around the world, and it boggles the mind as to why.

Why are people living in first-world countries where the drinking water from their taps is considered some of the best in the world spending millions on bottled water annually? Why are we seeing landfills across the world being filled with plastic water bottles that leach toxins into the soil and destroy the environment? What is the lure of bottles water?

Well, the answer to these questions is twofold:

  1. Even in developed countries the drinking water that is piped to people’s houses has been found to contain many pollutants and toxins such as fluoride, a known carcinogen, both pharmaceutical and recreational drugs, and more.
  2. The Power of Promotion – According to Associate Professor Bruce Clark, coordinator of the marketing group in the D’Amore-McKim School of Business:

” The bottling, branding, and sale of what is largely a free commodity, he says, is a testament to the power of promotion. “Water is a huge industry essentially created from nothing. It’s an example of what marketing can do with a product that’s fairly undifferentiated, and quite honestly, fairly boring.”

Advertising campaigns by large bottled water companies have created a culture in which it is “cool’ to be seen quaffing drinking water from a little plastic bottle with a fancy label. These companies have pandered to public perception and come up with fancy names and flavours such as “Dragon Whispers,” “Mermaid Songs,” and “Unicorn Kisses,” which consumers flocked to purchase.

Is bottled water better than tap water? The short answer is that it is not; while some tap water may contain impurities, most of it is pretty safe to drink, and investing in a mains water cooler with a good filter which is plumbed directly into your main water supply, will give you 100% pure chilled drinking water 24/7/365 and will benefit both your pocket and the environment.