Solution to Bottled Water Problem? Market Tap

In Venice, Italy, plastic water bottles had become a sizable issue; they were floating around the canals and marring the otherwise otherwoldly canal city vistas.

Rather than a ban, Venice has chosen another solution. They’re marketing their tap water the same way bottled water companies market bottled water.

Venice Journal – Known for Its Water, Venice Turns to Tap to Lessen Trash – NYTimes.com

But here in Venice, officials took a leaf from the advertising playbook that has helped make bottled water a multibillion-dollar global industry. They invented a lofty brand name for Venice’s tap water — Acqua Veritas — created a sleek logo and emblazoned it on stylish carafes that were distributed free to households.

Because tap water is often jokingly called “the mayor’s water” in Italy, they even enlisted regional politicians to star in tongue-in-cheek billboards. “I, too, drink the mayor’s water,” proclaims Venice’s mayor, a philosopher named Massimo Cacciari, as he pours a glass.

“There are so many advantages to Acqua Veritas,” said Riccardo Seccarello, a city official, whose office is adorned by an Acqua Veritas poster into which President Obama’s picture has been Photoshopped. “Tap water doesn’t require a bottle. Its quality is controlled more strictly than bottled water. It’s really cheap. And you don’t have to walk to a market to get it.”

bottled water, venice, acqua veritas