Do Bottled Water Ads Target Black Women?

(BlackDoctor.org) — Are some advertising campaigns created specifically for Black women? And are these ads working, making people believe that bottled water is healthier than it really is?

Is Bottled Water Better?

Hundreds of years after the spring from which Evian water is drawn was discovered, the bottled water industry is now one of the biggest, most lucrative businesses in the world. But is bottled water that much better for you? Experts have been weighing in on this subject for years, and what is known is that bottled water can be wasteful and bad for the environment (all those plastic bottles result in literally tons of trash) – and in most cases, filtered tap water is just as good as, if not better than, most bottled waters. And yet people continue to consume them at alarming rates.

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Minorities & Water

New research shows that minorities now consume bottled water at much greater rates than their white counterparts. They also spend more money on it. According to a study from the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine, Blacks and Latinos are three times more likely to give their children bottled water when they’re thirsty.

What’s the connection between bottled water and particular minority communities? Business publications, including Forbes, report that the reason may be linked to direct advertising that has been specifically devised to target them.

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A recent news article from Forbes states that “Over the last two years, Coca-Cola and Nestle have both rolled out campaigns aimed at minority moms…via radio, print and in-store advertising, Black women were sold on how drinking Dasani was just one step to a happier, more beautiful, more fulfilled, and more balanced them.”

Bottled or Tap?

Most experts say that, contrary to claims touting the health superiority of bottled water, research proves that nearly 50 percent of all the bottled water consumed in America comes from municipal water supplies, otherwise known as the very same water that already comes out of the kitchen faucet at home. Those same experts say that, in most cases, it’s actually better to just filter the stuff you’re already have. Plus, it’s free.