New “Tap Water Bottles” Take a Populist Approach to Stop Bottled Water Use

Reseda, CA (PRWEB) January 7, 2010

Bottled water sales are on the decline. The industry suffered loses of 3.2 percent in 2008 and approximately another 2% in 2009 according to a recent article from MSNBC.com*.

This wasn’t always the case. When window shoppers walked down Rodeo Drive 5 years ago they would have seen up-and-coming actors and trendy housewives carrying bottled water. It was a symbol of health and it was in style.

Fast forward to present day and those same people now use reusable water bottles. Excess and waste is out, frugality is in. And this despite the millions of dollars the bottled water industry puts into advertising and marketing.

What’s behind this decline? It certainly isn’t because the public utilities have fought back with effect advertising of their own. Many of them have had their budgets slashed due to the recession. Once their budgets are restored will they amp up the promotion of tap water with savy promotions?

Probably not.

L.A. based 'Faucet Face' thinks the water utilities have dropped the ball when it comes to advertising the benefits of tap. They’ve taken it upon themselves to take up the cause with custom water bottles that have labels such as “Hose Water” and “Tap is Terrific”.

Founder Mason Gentry says “The City of L.A is ineffective at promoting it’s water. There’s no real leadership on the issue. Even if there was, they don’t have the resources to create a campaign that rivals the sophistication of the private bottlers. They have bigger fish to fry like repairing a crumbling infrastructure.”

Gentry’s point about the City’s ineffectiveness may have some merit according to an article written in the L.A. Times earlier this year**. The piece said “City Controller Laura Chick found that 13 city departments spent more than $184,000 last year on water sold by such companies as Sparkletts, Danone and Arrowhead. Chick said she was alarmed to see the city’s bottled water consumption spike since 2005 -– despite a memo on the topic sent by Villaraigosa to each of his department heads.”

The article goes on to say that “in 2006 city officials had purchased nearly $89,000 worth of bottled water in 2004 and 2005, at the same time that the DWP was spending $1 million to assure residents that its tap water is top quality.”

Will the water utilities ever get their act together to promote tap? It remains to be seen.

For now tap water’s supporters will continue to be environmentally aware citizens, non-profits, and small companies like Faucet Face. Gentry says “The bottled water vs. tap debate has been one sided for so long because all the profits were in private bottling. But we have common sense on our side. If we can just a bring a little sophistication to the act of drinking tap water, people will continue to give up bottled water.”

*http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34451973/ns/business-going_green/

**http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/03/la-city-departm.html

Media Contact:
Mason Gentry
mason.gentry (at) faucetface.com

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