Lonzie Cox – 7/1/08

This page was last updated on July 1, 2008.

Bottled water all corporate hype; Lonzie Cox, Jr.; Beaver County Times; July 1, 2008. I am not related to Mr. Cox.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“Many of us have questioned whether bottled water was better for us than tap water.

“Two years ago, Canadians Larry Lack and Lee Ann Ward spelled it out clearly. They contended that aside from its obvious usefulness in emergencies, bottled water consumption is financially wasteful and environmentally damaging.

“Causing people to fear and distrust the safety of public water supplies has been a great marketing strategy for the major corporations that sell bottled water.”

[RWC] There’s nothing like a little revisionist history. If you recall, so-called environmentalists kept telling us our public water supplies were tainted because of fertilizer runoff, rainwater runoff, dumping in waterways, et cetera. There were also groups lobbying against fluoridated water. That’s at least part of what started the bottled water “craze.” “[M]ajor corporations” simply took advantage of the market opportunity presented to them.

“Images of green forests and mountain springs work every time. Consumers think they’re buying a more healthful product.

“Bottled water sales exceed $35 billion a year, so it’s possible that someone, somewhere figured out that if we gullible Americans will pay $4 a gallon for hyped bottled water, then we’ll also pay $4 a gallon for gasoline without revolting.”

[RWC] Sure.

“Add the fact that 40 percent of bottled water comes straight from municipal (city) water pipes anyway, and it’s obvious Lack and Ward were right about bottled water. It’s no better than water from the tap.”

[RWC] You have to love letters like this. Lefties tell us our water supplies are tainted, pushing us to bottled water. Once we’re on bottled water, lefties blame “major corporations” and tell us to go back to tap water. I have no idea if Mr. Cox bought into the tainted tap water hype.