The way it’s written sure does make it sound that way, and the larger point is now a trend that is at least five years old, which was -my- point. And that’s fine, I just find it amusing how late to the game this is.
I first really noticed Liquid Death at a recent concert. I was getting to my seat and saw a few people drinking it. Didn’t realize it was water until later when I went for some water and voila. I don’t know if there were fountains in the venue. I don’t think so. Cost a little less than a beer. I don’t know if I could have gotten tap water from the bar for free. Perhaps. In the past they sold water in plastic bottles.
Anyway, agreed that my lizard brain read the can as something interesting. And I felt slightly more cool cool when I was drinking it.
On a different note, I went to a bar here in the Valley, and right up front they had a big water jug with plastic cups for folks. Pretty common in this part of the valley, but not at all closer to me. Another restaurant near my office, located in the mall has carafes of water and glass cups. To me, it makes someplace more of a “third place” and I feel so welcome when there is water. Is that hijacking my brain too? At a concert I expect to be paying extra for drinks, and I think the branding helps sell water. I’m thankful most places have someplace I can fill up my personal bottle. Apologies for the rambling.
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People who say that kind of thing as a supposedly clever rip on those who buy water often make me wonder-- Is there nothing wrong with tap water? Like, anywhere? And are those who filter it also duped fools? 
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Maybe we should ask the residents of Flint Michigan?
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They could buy canned water. So they they are fools, obviously.
No one is making fun of people who buy bottled water because their local drinking water is unsafe, but that’s hardly the main reason bottled water has become so popular in wealthy countries over the last several decades. The bigger reason is that bottled water companies have convinced consumers there’s something wrong with drinking tap water even when their local tap water is held to higher safety standards than the bottled water.
Case in point: back in 2006 Fiji Water was running ads saying “The label says Fiji because it’s not bottled in Cleveland.” This annoyed the people who are in charge of ensuring the quality of Cleveland’s drinking water, so they ran some tests to see how it held up against Fiji’s:
The results: 6.31 micrograms of arsenic per liter in the Fiji bottle, said Cleveland water quality manager Maggie Rodgers. Cleveland tap water as well as bottled brands Aquafina, Dasani and Evian had no measurable arsenic.
Obviously YMMV, but single-use containers are a tremendous source of waste and pollution so it would be nice if they were reserved for situations that truly warrant them. A good step would be more communities re-investing in accessible public drinking fountains.
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“For a hole in your roof or a whole new roof, Frederic Roofing. 645-2000.” Stuck in my head for 50 years. Still hear it occasionally when I’m listening to Cardinals games on KMOX AM radio. Just a beautiful voice and a guitar.
So you think that people who filter their tap water with Brita pitchers and so on are indeed as foolish as those who buy bottled water?
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The post that @milliefink was replying to did not make ANY of those distinctions… this is a more complicated issue than just “drink tap water, you dum dums”… Not all tap water IS safe and that’s a fact to contend with in the real world.
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No. I’m saying that the primary reason so many Americans have shifted to drinking water from single-use containers over the last few decades is because the bottled water industry has launched an incredibly successful marketing campaign to change consumer behavior.
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That really doesn’t touch on the point that @milliefink was making, though, that not all tap water is safe and it doesn’t make sense for everyone to just drink out of the tap.
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No one has suggested that people who don’t have access to clean, safe tap water should be shamed for drinking bottled water.
The rise of the bottled water industry is a microcosm of many social failures, many of which were caused by the same industry now marketing the solution.
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Yes.
Capitalism ruins everything; we’ve heard.
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Except for the two posts that did just that… joking about tap water being installed in American homes. It is in many homes. Not everyone can drink that water.
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My hope is that locally run AIs (with my rationales like products that are sustainable, supports people, not from a giant corporate monopoly etc.) will help swing this to 98% the other way: “it is all marketing and brand because the reason people choose things 98 percent of the time is not rational. It’s emotional.”
I don’t follow. How would AI change the way humans respond to marketing campaigns designed to create emotional responses?
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It can help by doing all the rational research on products then presenting you with the options and context. For example a few months ago (might be more) there was a general plea to not buy a chip product as the union was on strike. I avoided them but what about the rest of the products under different names that the parent company owned? I would have liked to avoid them but doing that amount of research while making a shopping list was too much. AI could do that as well as consider other factors I care about, like choosing locally produced items, and give me options with reasons. A lot less emotion in the decisions and a lot more analysis.
