Awesome Advertising: Tappening

Tappening is a company whose goal is to stop the mass consumption of bottled water.  Their site offers statistics, editorials, and opinions on the negative aspects the bottled water industry.  Their source of revenue?  Eco-friendly water bottles that contain slogans like "Good people drink local" or Think global go local."  The bottles are actually pretty cool, but it's the message delivered in their new advertising campaign that really caught my eye.

People choose bottled water based on a ton of different reasons.  I myself like the Aquafina bottle the best.  My friends used to get Nestle because it was the cheapest.  But the one thing all these waters share in common is the crazy way in which they try to differentiate their product with words such as "reverse osmosis,"  "crystal lake reduction," or Caribbean Waterfall production."  I mean even if these waters are getting processed through a Caribbean waterfall, does that really make a difference in the taste or eco-friendliness of the water?  That is exactly the question that Tappening hits on in their brilliant new ad campaign.

In a recent interview Tappening partner Eric Yaverbaum stated, "We want people to know we're blatantly lying in our new campaign, and, most importantly, that everyone should pay close attention to what's factual in marketing and what's -- not so much."  It all started with the tagline 98% Melted Ice Caps...2% Polar Bear Tears, which, I don't know about you but I find hilarious.  It really reminds me of all those Chuck Norris quotes you read about - 12 % unicorn 88% muscle or whatever- I completely made that one up, but you should know what I'm talking about.

I think ads using the "fake ingredient" slogans would have worked just fine, but Tappening went a different way and used other taglines that claimed lies about bottled water in general.  Funny slogans such as "Bottled water is the number one cause of restless leg syndrom,"  or "bottled water makes acid rain fall on playgrounds."  Pair this with a funny image and you've got yourself a hilarious campaign.  

The last peice of the puzzle involves some interactive social media.  The website startalie.com was created, and allows users to start their own lie about bottled water.  How does this benefit the company?  Each person that creates a lie then shares it on twitter, facebook, and all forms of social media.  The word gets out, people are directed to the site, the company gets global.  Simple concept- huge potential for results.  I recommend you check the site out, there's some pretty funny fake facts about bottled water.  My personal favorite, "Bottled water shot a man in Reno...just to watch him die."  Random I know.  Hilarious nonetheless.

Scope out the company at tappening.com
Check out the ads at startalie.com