The end justifies the means
I haven’t bored you about my Water Water Everywhere project for a while, so here goes:
Since we launched the app I keep seeing ads for bottled water alternatives that sell themselves on their environmental credentials.
I don’t know if that’s a consequence of the old adage, ‘to a worm in an apple everything looks like apple’, but I’m sure I didn’t see any before the summer.
And if you click the wweverywhere link above you’ll see the massive installation Sodastream have placed in the basement of Selfridges.
As I pointed out in the water blog, I do understand that these companies are looking to make money (strange change of heart for Sodastream otherwise), but I also believe that doesn’t matter. If a great consequence comes from an impure motive, then who cares? The only thing that really matters is measurable results in real life.
However, this does go somewhat against what I have written before about Unilever (only three of you will recall my rant against the FMCG behemoth: I thought it rich that the company that produced Dove and professed to give a shit about women’s self esteem was the same company that produced Lynx and therefore didn’t).
So I’ve decided to change my mind: if women are happier because of Dove’s advertising campaign, no matter what the corporate mendacity, then that can only be a good thing.
PS: stop buying bottled water. It’s really stupid.
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http://www.facebook.com/pages/Water-Water-Everywhere/127296064019423
Yes. Do that.
nothing wrong with seeing apple in your case i assume. its an ad blog, read by people who work in…
the love of money is the root… not money… great consequences never come of an impure motive, i think. whats a great consequence…
have to disagree with ‘ends justifying the means’. the how is important. but thats just me.
and hey dove, your advertising did not make me happier. it takes a bit more. just saying.
ps: watch plastic planet. and think of all the shit you might be drinking while sipping on your branded, bottled water.
Not sure the apple/worm analogy really works Ben. Shouldn’t it be a worm that’s really hungry and everywhere it looks it sees apples…or something like that…oh why is it so damn hot…
Nxt post: Is there an optimum temperature for coming up with ideas? And if so, how does this relate to the different regions around the world and their performance at Cannes?
Ben, I actually invented the idea of selling water. I know, it’s almost Al Gore-esque. But it was the early 70s, in the deep south in summer and Coke machines were everywhere. One day, sick of drinking Cokes but very hot & thirsty, I surmised how nice it would be to be able to buy a can of water instead. A CAN. Plastic bottles had not yet become mainstream. I reasoned that you could sell it in the same machines for half the price. My friends scoffed at the idea. Who would pay for water? And we lived in a city famous for its natural springs. As usual, I did nothing to pursue this idea. My point being, if plastic bottles are the problem, couldn’t cans be the answer? Aluminum is imminently recyclable. And I bet less harmful to make. I wonder…
re cans
recycling is very water and energy consuming as well. plastic or aluminium.
we are happily contaminating the very water we want to drink. just because we want it to be nicely packaged. its just weird. to say the least.
@ Mary: Beyond weird. Terrifyingly absurd. If you are going to buy it, at least buy brands that are made in your own country. Huge cargo ships delivering water from one clean water-abundant place to another is insane. It is too bad that when nature decides to backlash, it won’t discriminate between those who care and the idiots who are perpetrating this madness.
NRDC conducted a four-year review of the bottled water industry and the safety standards that govern it including a comparison of national bottled water rules with national tap water rules and independent testing of over 1 000 bottles of water. Our conclusion is that there is no assurance that just because water comes out of a bottle it is any cleaner or safer than water from the tap. Could the plastic in water bottles pose a health risk?….Recent research suggests that there could be cause for concern and that the issue should be studied closely.