Fiji Water: The Bottled Water Of A Military Junta
By Anna Lenzer in Mother Jones:
Obama sips it. Paris Hilton loves it. Mary J. Blige won't sing without it. How did a plastic water bottle, imported from a military dictatorship thousands of miles away, become the epitome of cool?...Nowhere in Fiji Water's glossy marketing materials will you find reference to the typhoid outbreaks that plague Fijians because of the island's faulty water supplies; the corporate entities that Fiji Water has--despite the owners' talk of financial transparency--set up in tax havens like the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg; or the fact that its signature bottle is made from Chinese plastic in a diesel-fueled plant and hauled thousands of miles to its ecoconscious consumers. And, of course, you won't find mention of the military junta for which Fiji Water is a major source of global recognition and legitimacy. (Gilmour has described the square bottles as "little ambassadors" for the poverty-stricken nation.)
"We are Fiji," declare Fiji Water posters across the island, and the slogan is almost eerily accurate: The reality of Fiji, the country, has been eclipsed by the glistening brand of Fiji, the water.
...Selling long-distance water to green consumers may be a contradiction in terms. But that hasn't stopped Fiji from positioning its product not just as an indulgence, but as an outright necessity for an elite that can appreciate its purity. As former Fiji Water CEO Doug Carlson once put it, "If you like Velveeta cheese, processed water is okay for you." ("All waters are not created equal" is another long-standing Fiji Water slogan.) The company has gone aggressively after its main competitor--tap water--by calling it "not a real or viable alternative" that can contain "4,000 contaminants," unlike Fiji's "living water." "You can no longer trust public or private water supplies," co-owner Lynda Resnick wrote in her book, Rubies in the Orchard.
...What Mooney didn't say is that though Fiji Water may fill a void in the impoverished nation, it also reaps a priceless benefit: tax-free status, granted when the company was founded in 1995. The rationale at the time, according to the company: Bottled water was a risky business with uncertain chances of success. In 2003, David Gilmour said that his ambition for Fiji Water was "to become the biggest taxpayer in the country." Yet the tax break, originally scheduled to expire in 2008, remains in effect, and neither the company nor the government will say whether or when it might end. And when Fiji has tried to wring a bit of extra revenue from the company, the response has been less than cooperative. Last year, when the government attempted to impose a new tax on water bottlers, Fiji Water called it "draconian" (a term it's never used for the regime's human rights violations) and temporarily shut down its plant in protest.
On a related note, here's Michael Pritchard's TED talk about the Lifesaver bottle he invented to purify filthy water, keeping out bacteria that other filters let through, and making the most revolting water drinkable for about a half cent a day. Good for a family of four for about three years. For about 20 billion dollars, everyone on the planet can have access to safe drinking water, he says.
via Page and Dornenburg, authors of The Flavor Bible
Ever wonder about those people who spend $2 apiece on those little bottles of Evian water? Try spelling Evian backward.
-- George Carlin
Steamer at August 19, 2009 7:36 AM
It would be great if Obama publicly made a habit of drinking what, in the U.S. is usually the safest, cheapest and certainly the most environmentally friendly water around. The stuff that comes out of the tap. Military dictators aside, Fiji water is a nightmare. The carbon footprint of a bottle of Fiji water is staggering. They make the plastic bottles somewhere else, ship them to Fiji, fill them at a factory powered by diesel generators and then ship them across the Pacific to fools here in the U.S. I think the process couldn't be more wasteful if that were a design goal.
Whatever at August 19, 2009 8:14 AM
I don't know about you, but my tap water tastes like a swimming pool.
But for $50 I got a 2-gallon PuR (USA made) filter tank, and for $20 every quarter, I get a three-pack of filters for it. And for the occasions where I need to carry a water bottle, I got a 1L Nalgene bottle (USA made) for $10 that I will probably never have to replace in my lifetime.
I don't think I've bought a bottle of water (which I did for the convenience factor) since I got the hard plastic bottle a couple months ago.
And I didn't even do it to save the planet. I did it because I'm too lazy to go to the store and buy a new bottle of water every time I go out.
brian at August 19, 2009 8:19 AM
Oh, and Obama won't do what you suggest for one reason - he's famous, baby!
How long is it before we start hearing about the precise count of water bottles to be available at every press conference?
How awesome would it be if he walked out of a joint presser with Merkel shouting "I just can not work with that woman!"
brian at August 19, 2009 8:22 AM
So is this going to be the apex of the bottled-water racket? I thought it couldn't get any sillier, but I see I was wrong.
Cousin Dave at August 19, 2009 9:25 AM
Well, with some leftoid cities seeking to ban the stuff entirely, it's interesting to note that their reason (environment) is not the worst thing being done to supply the mostly-leftoid celebrity world with bottled water.
Leftists are truly incapable of reflection or introspection.
brian at August 19, 2009 10:14 AM
> For about 20 billion dollars,
> everyone on the planet can have
> access to safe drinking water
I love that number, and don't doubt it. Lomborg says (at 31 minutes) that for $75 billion per year, we could solve all the major problems, providing clean drinking water, sanitation, basic healthcare and education for everyone on the planet.
It's sounds like a lot of money. It sounds like we'd be throwing a Bill Gates overboard every year, and those guys don't grow on trees.
But it would be less than a third as expensive as Kyoto, and the improved societies would be much more likely to bring fixes to our other problems, including the environmental ones.
I recommend that entire clip, which is packed with factoids. (E.g., what is the worst kind of pollution?)
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 19, 2009 10:27 AM
Interesting numbers, Crid. I wonder how that compares to the current U.S. foreign aid budget. (Last I looked, government spending was in the neighborhood of $20B; I have no idea what the level of private giving in this area is.) The problem we always run into, of course, is that there are too many Third World governments who have a strong interest in keeping their popluations unhealthy and dependent. And they have the political means to hijack aid efforts, as we've seen time and time again. Based on the Iraq experience, I have serious doubts about our (or anyone's) ability to depose all of these governments militarily, plus it would run into enormous worldwide opposition. I'm not sure what the answer is.
Cousin Dave at August 19, 2009 11:28 AM
Dust off and nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.
brian at August 19, 2009 12:09 PM
The first result of a google search for "what is the worst kind of pollution" is "A short, picture-based presentation about dealing with sin."
Not what Lomborg was thinking?
Pseudonym at August 19, 2009 12:12 PM
If it works for Aliens, right?
momof4 at August 19, 2009 12:57 PM
Bottled water. A sure indication that someone has more money than brains ... .
Jay R at August 19, 2009 1:07 PM
At a school I used to work at, they did a blind taste taste. I liked the City of Weston and the Poland Spring water best.
I was at Evian-les-Bains this summer, and got to drink the water fresh from the source. It was great, but part of the greatness was being surrounded by mountains and a lake.
I use a Brita.
NicoleK at August 19, 2009 3:08 PM
The only unfiltered tap water I can drink is the stuff comming out of the Wasatch Range in northern Utah, all your monthly allowances of copper and magnesium in one glass
lujlp at August 19, 2009 4:02 PM
Also I cant stand brita I dontknow what they use to give it that "spring taste" but I hate it.
Why the fuck cant I get simple H2O without "ehanced mineral flavor"?
lujlp at August 19, 2009 4:06 PM
Much agreed Jay. Much agreed.
More money than sense.
Its the little idiocies that make me doubt Darwin. *L*
Robert at August 19, 2009 4:31 PM
> I wonder how that compares to the
> current U.S. foreign aid budget
Well, when Lomborg says "we" in "we could solve all the major problems", he means human civilization. But your point is well taken. It's in everyone's interest to not let criminal elements hide out in Afghanistan, but look who's doing the policing.
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 19, 2009 4:40 PM
I wasn't aware that they were adding flavors to the water. I don't think they are using an ion-exchange system (like a water softener does).
I know that the Pur that I have is activated charcoal (gets rid of chlorine and other "off" flavors) and reverse-osmosis (gets rid of a bunch of other shit, including minerals and potential microbial matter)
brian at August 19, 2009 7:34 PM
Brita has a filtration system the last step of which is washing the water thru minerals for 'taste'
Water shouldnt taste like anything
lujlp at August 19, 2009 8:00 PM
I watched that TED interview about a week ago. I have this to say the bottle is neat but in the grand scheme will never solve the problem of water - one the bottle is expensive - i think about 100 dollars per cartridge. Yes for pennies a day it can supply water.... where have we heard those words - yes on informercials for a dollar a day I can own a Trackmaster "ski in place" doodad and shed off the pounds... OR I can buy some miralce cleaner that only cost pennnies a day and my leather couch and babseball gloves will look amazing for years to come....
What I thought was better was the what I saw in the news a few years ago was about these girls
http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/teams/2006/nerinx.html
Their concept was more practical using items from around the environment. Also it was to be cheaper.... Try to make it more sturdier. Was not pretty but look interesting....
Would it not be better to teach someone to fish then to give them each all their own little fish.
Also got to love it when someone gives you an exact price to fix a problem. So for 20 billion I can solve the thirst of the third world. Ya right. Does that include the first two batches of bottles confiscated by government and given to the military because soldiers thirst is more important that some dinky civilians. What about the next three ... four .... heck 10 batches that are confiscated or down right stolen and resold on the black market. What maroons say the government those well meaning dogooders where going to give those bottles away when you can sell it to them. How about those bottles that where going to go to the area where Mr President/Prime Minister has been having a whole lotta trouble lately ... well their bottles are being held for inspection it should only take another five years till they are done. What about shipment to all those little places that need a bottle - I do not think FedEx goes there. By now that price has now doubled and they have probably only gotten the bottle to about half the needed recipients.
John Paulson at August 19, 2009 8:34 PM
Y'all know about this, right? Very good.
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 20, 2009 12:00 AM
"Water shouldnt taste like anything". The ironic thing is that very highly purified water tastes terrible. It's highly reactive, and it does weird things to your taste buds. Funny story: A spacecraft I worked on several years ago had a recirculating water cooling loop. When it was originally activated for its first tests, the mechanical guys filled with highly purified RO water from a purification system at KSC. Over the next few days, they noticed a weird problem: the pressure in the water loop was increasing. Gas was evolving in the loop and making the pressure go up. They changed out the water several times, but it kept happening.
The problem was that the water was so incredibly pure that it was reacting with all of the rubber and plastic parts in the water loop. The solution: get some tap water from the bathroom and add that to the loop. That provided enough minerals and impurities to stop the water from eating at the plastic. It worked flawlessly after that.
Cousin Dave at August 20, 2009 7:21 AM
Crid, that's so neat! Thanks for those links.
NicoleK at August 20, 2009 7:23 AM
Man, now we can't even drink water without it turning into a freaking issue. I drink only water and coffee and I probably drink at least 100 ounces of water a day. I carry a water bottle out of convenience not because I feel any need to show off my particular brand.
I get looks from the greenies who don't seem to care that I wash and re-use my bottle over and over. I do have a big water jug at home that I refill from. I like water. I always have. And while I did not know the story about FIJI water (thanks for that Amy), I have heard stories about other brands.
FIJI is not a brand I typically buy because the price is ridiculous, but on occasion when its all that I could find I have had it and it was pretty delicious. People don't believe it but some waters are better than others. Tap water where I live is iffy. Evian sucks. Again though, I usually buy a bottle of Smartwater because its big and a buck. I rinse and re-fill enough to quiet the voice in my head that says I'm not being environmentally friendly. Then I buy a new bottle and start over.
Kristen at August 20, 2009 7:37 AM
Poland Spring makes their bottles out of a plastic that is so thin that you can't help but spray water all over the place at least once when you open them.
That said, it's the only water I use to brew beer.
brian at August 20, 2009 8:05 AM
After my snarky comment above, I should say that I do drink from the Sparkletts water cooler in my office. The pipes in this old building deliver tap water that is undrinkable. The tap water where I live tastes VERY heavily of chlorine -- we use a filter to provide water for coffee, juice, etc.
The best water I've ever tasted? From the tap in a campground in the Sierra Nevada. Just the right mix of minerals, and so refreshing!
Jay R at August 20, 2009 11:33 AM
> Thanks for those links.
It just came to mind when people were talking about cheap (and ridiculously expensive) solutions to third-world problems.
And when reading the inventor's name tonight, I'm left to wonder:
• Is Mohammed Bah Abba a Muslim? (Casual descriptions don't say... But he is a teacher, and his insight is projected to do much for the lives of women especially... Make of that what you will.)
• If he is a practicing Muslim, who's the previous one to offer the world such a stunning innovation?
"Muslim innovators" is not a mental list I've been keeping over the last 50 years... There'd be no point. The only contender who comes to mind is this guy from the early Duran Duran years, and that's only because of his exotic name: Wiki says contemporary India is only 13% Muslim.
Take ten seconds: If anyone comes to mind, post the name in a comment.
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 20, 2009 10:10 PM
24 hours later, crickets rule this space.
Crid [CridComment @ gmail] at August 21, 2009 10:08 PM
Leave a comment