• Pursuit to educate public on virtues of tap water continues
NEW YORK, NY, May 20, 2008 -- You may think twice that next time you reach for a bottled water, thanks to a new advertising campaign by Tappening -- a group dedicated to promoting the many health, environmental, and financial benefits of drinking water straight from the tap.
The joint venture between New York-based ad agency DiMassimo Goldstein (DIGO) and PR firm, Ericho Communications, was founded by Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum, and has spawned a liquid revolution, as people nationwide have traded in their bottled water for good old-fashioned tap water. Based on the enormous success of the Web site (over 2 million visitors to date), the duo have launched an ad campaign in an effort to educate even more people about the virtues of tap water.
"We can use our advertising and public relations abilities to un-sell bottled water hype," says Mark DiMassimo. "Typically, people who drink bottled water are doing so because they believe it's superior to tap water, because that's what billions of dollars of bottled water advertising has claimed or implied. The thing is, that's simply not true." Yaverbaum adds, "tap water is just as good (as bottled water), far better for the environment, and obviously much better for your checking account."
DiMassimo Goldstein created three ads depicting the harsh realities of bottled water. From the obvious environmental issues stemming from the production of the plastic, to the dumping of millions of empty bottles every year, the ads aim to raise awareness that tap water is simply a more responsible choice.
Each of the ads focuses on one specific issue. The first shows a single use water bottle wrapped in a one hundred dollar bill. The copy then reads: "Bottled water costs 7,000 times more than the same water that comes from a faucet."
Next, the group attacks the environmental damage caused by the production and disposal of plastic bottles used by manufacturers. In one execution, a single use water bottle is photographed with a thick cloud of smog bellowing from the top: "Last year, plastic bottles generated more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide."
The final ad in the series shows a dead fish floating in a plastic bottle of water, with the tagline: "Every year, 38 billion water bottles end up buried in the earth."
To show its commitment, Tappening is pouring its profits back into the cause -- with a $250,000 media campaign that will include outdoor 'wild postings' in the ten top markets. The budget is being stretched with a 'long tail' strategy of print buys in magazines with small and passionate followings, such as "Animal Print," which will have a Tappening ad in its May issue. Ads will also be placed in community newspapers in the top twenty markets beginning in May and June.
In addition, the agency has produced viral videos that have been making their way around the net, driving traffic to the Tappening website. And with a cool new mobile messaging strategy, they are creating their first widget, allowing users to send video messages directly from the site to the mobile phone of a bottled water drinker!
Named "one of the hottest products of 2008" by Good Morning America, the reusable Tappening bottle has been featured in media outlets from People to Forbes. With enormous demand for the Tappening water bottles, 200,000 were sold in the first six months!
Most recently, the group made headlines with their "Message in a Bottle" campaign. With the goal to deliver one million empty water bottles to incoming Coca Cola CEO, Muhter Kent, people are encouraged to send in bottles with a note inside letting Kent know that the days of bottled water are numbered.
The ads were created by:
Advertising Agency: DiMassimoGoldstein (DIGO), New York, USA
Creative Director: Rich Buceta
Art Director: Kevin Gentile
Copywriter: Mike Abell
Photographer/Retouching: Bartholomew Cooke
Executive Creative Director: Mark DiMassimo
Tappening -- founded by Mark DiMassimo and Eric Yaverbaum -- is an educational campaign designed to encourage the public to drink only tap water, and to send a message to the bottled water industry about its unnecessary and extreme waste of fossil fuels and resultant pollution of the Earth.
DiMassimo Goldstein (DIGO) is a marketing strategy and communications partner focused on promoting "health, wealth and the pursuit of happiness."
Founded in 2007 by bestselling author, Eric Yaverbaum, Ericho Communications is a full-service public relations firm "where green meets the latest that technology has to offer."
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