Posted on 08/31/2011 6:32:51 AM PDT by flowerplough
Forbes is reporting today on a study in the Archives of Pediatric Adolescent Medicine that finds that Latino and black parents are three times more likely to purchase bottled water for their children than are white parents. Why? Because it's cleaner, safer, healthier and more convenient than free (or almost free) tap water.
Except ... it's not.
Health experts note reams of data showing tap water to be pure, healthful and entirely sanitary. Plus, study authors say that missing out on the fluoride in tap water could contribute to dental issues among minority children.
And then there's the National Resources Defense Council investigation that discovered that 17 percent of bottled water contained unsafe levels of bacterial loads, and 22 perent was contaminated with chemicals, including arsenic.
So what's behind the decision to buy bottles? You guessed it. Marketing. Here are the three main factors identified by study authors:
* Latino-specific bottled water brands: For example, Las Oleadas, a brand of mineral-enhanced bottled water for sale in Colorado, Nevada, Arizona and California, focuses explicitly on the Hispanic market.
* Targeting of minority moms: Think Dasani enlisting TLC's Chilli to deliver its message of health and hydration to African-American mothers in a special Mother's Day program.
* Celebrity endorsement: According to Forbes, in the 1990s, advertisers really started to take the African-American market seriously and realized the profits to be cultivated if they started to use black stars. And between 2008 and 2010, when Hispanic commercials featuring Latina TV host Cristina Saralegui aired, the awareness of Pure Life water, along with "purchase-intent levels," quadrupled among Hispanics.
(Excerpt) Read more at theroot.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2576097/posts
“After purchasing a reported 20 24-packs of bottled water, on sale that week for $2.99 a case before taxes and redemption fees were added, the men went behind the store to the loading dock and poured the contents of each bottle on the ground. Shortly thereafter, a reporter also witnessed the pair wheel their shopping cart into the vestibule of the store, feed the 480 bottles into a redemption machine and claim their cash value at the customer service counter. ..”
Ah, Political Correctness- shaping the world of tomorrow, in the news of today!
With all that limestone huh? Actually, as a kid, I thought water in other towns tasted weird.
It is free when they are paid for with foodstamps, which is how they are in the majority of cases.
I buy bottled water when I visit the Oklahoma City area and its surrounding suburbs. Every time I have visited there and not bought bottled water, I have gotten seriously ill. When I do buy bottled water, I am perfectly fine.
There is something about the water in that area that doesn’t agree with my system. And this has never happened to me anywhere else in the country.
A big envy of the left is watching private businesses greatly mark up the price of commune water. A way to piss upstream of the natives even more is start selling bottled air.
Beware central UT.
I learned quickly to take bottled water.
My system isn’t necessarily sensitive, but,
central UT proved me wrong.
Just to have fun hijacking this thread, the intiial purchase prices, ignoring vet bills, food, etc., can be quite astounding. Back in April, I purchsed a Great Dane puppy for $500 plus $350 to fly him to Knoxville, TN from TX. A relative of mine recently lost her beloved French Bulldog and I decided to check the Internet for the prices of Frenchie puppies. That knocked my socks off, since the purchaser will be nicked anywhere from $1,200 to $3,400 per puppy. You can also nailed for similar prices for other small pure bred dogs, like King Charles Cavalier Spaniels.
NOW, LETS SEE THE THREAD GO OFF ONTO THE PRICES OF PURE BRED DOGS!!
I’ve never been sick from the water anywhere, but I will definitely keep it in mind if I go to OK City.
Hey, after 27 comments on water, you would think that sufficient.
Back to dogs/pets for a moment.
Forget the pure breeds. Have you tried to just get a pet from the local shelter? They have their bureaucratic rules. Spayed, wormed, shot, medicated, and fluffed up just for you, and hurry because next week their off to the pet cemetery.
They cost a bundle, dead or alive.
As far as being expensive dead, I have a sorry on that for you, too. The dog who preceded my Dane, a rescue I acquired free from his foster mommy, started seriously losing weight about six months before his demise. In that six months I spent over $3,000 trying simply to get a diagnosis that never came as he wasted down to a walking skeleton that literally looked like the a canine version of a just released concentration camp victim. Finally, strongly suspecting terminal cancer, I took matters into my own hands and took him for his last trip to the vet. The final procedure cost $400 and the autopsy, which confirmed my suspicion, another $200. All of that proves there's no such thing as a free dog.
>> In the past three years Kukulis [of Las Oleadas bottled water] ... went from watching Latinos in his community drinking sugar-saturated drinks to researching Latino bottled water to marketing his own brand now being sold in four states.
Wow - another minority saved by the profit motive.
Bottled water, as marketed today, is the greatest scam ever invented. I wish I had thought of it.
Dang, I’m sure it was not fun seeing an animal companion go through what yours did. From your story it sounds like he bore it well. Typical of dogs. And no joy in Mudville for the final trip. You did your best. Brought a tear to my eyes.
We have a couple of great Danes in the neighborhood. When the owner walks them, they are out front. Not sure who is walking whom. And, they are huge, not fat, just big, tall, and muscular.
How d’ya think you build an immune system, anyway?
The Dane, OTOH, has never suffered any abuse worse than having to learn to live with a cat and being booted off the bed so I could make it. He is both a play machine and a love machine who seems to like just about every human and every dog he runs into. Overall, he has the makings of a really great dog.
I'm only three weeks late to this thread but I had to weigh in to agree with you. When my nose has to approach a glass of water with caution, it's time for bottled water.
Sometimes there's so much chlorine in the water that you can smell it across the room. Chlorine is for washing white clothes, not drinking. Twenty or so years ago, in the small town where I lived, you could occasionally see what appeared to be bits of toilet paper floating around in a glass of water. No thanks.
We buy distilled water, if it's truly distilled and I go on trust for that claim, it's about as safe as you can get.
We learned the 5 second rule in our suburbanite family. My favorite was my mom claiming "a little green mold never killed anyone" after we would complain about our sandwich bread.
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