You may think that there are some things that consumerism just can’t touch. You may want to think again. Our current obsession is the Stanley — sorry, now the Owala. Water bottles have become ubiquitous as a personal brand and a money-making machine.
This dawned on me as my roommates and I gathered at the table for dinner last night. We began by discussing the fact that after a month of living together, we are yet to own a single water glass (except for the wine glasses, of course). However, our conversation was obstructed by the large Stanley in the centre of the table. Beside it stood an Owala and a Hydro-Flask — our other uninvited guests.
These items can be neatly ordered into years. 2019: the year of the Hydro-Flask; 2022: the year of the Stanley; 2026: the year of the Owala. On the surface, these water bottles are a good thing; compared to single-use plastic, a reusable water bottle is eco-friendly, convenient, and can leave some room for creativity. Unfortunately, however, our very own university noticed this too — and the money-making opportunities that come with it. Walk past the £150 Lululemon items in the University of Edinburgh gift shop and you’ll find the £45 university-branded water bottle. Because why not fork out £45 for the luxury of being a free advertisement for the university?
Sometimes, however, companies are generous enough to let us become walking advertisements for free. Take, for instance, the free Why Not Nightclub water bottle available at the freshers’ fair this year. Gone are the days of the small IKEA logo on the bottom of the glass — now, even our most treasured and feared local institutions have realised the money-making power of the humble water bottle.
Therefore, the problem isn’t the water bottle itself. It’s that you can’t just drink water any more: you either drink the latest trend that doubles as a reflection of your personality, or you act as a living, breathing advertisement for your local nightclub (my unfortunate situation). If you’re lucky, it’s free — otherwise, you pay with the small fee of your student loan and your view at dinner.
This might become our topic of conversation at our next flat dinner if we can manage to see past the water bottles. Hopefully Bezos soon finds something even more profitable to sell us instead.
Photo by Bluewater Sweden on Unsplash.
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Short Rant: What happened to water bottles?
You may think that there are some things that consumerism just can’t touch. You may want to think again. Our current obsession is the Stanley — sorry, now the Owala. Water bottles have become ubiquitous as a personal brand and a money-making machine.
This dawned on me as my roommates and I gathered at the table for dinner last night. We began by discussing the fact that after a month of living together, we are yet to own a single water glass (except for the wine glasses, of course). However, our conversation was obstructed by the large Stanley in the centre of the table. Beside it stood an Owala and a Hydro-Flask — our other uninvited guests.
These items can be neatly ordered into years. 2019: the year of the Hydro-Flask; 2022: the year of the Stanley; 2026: the year of the Owala. On the surface, these water bottles are a good thing; compared to single-use plastic, a reusable water bottle is eco-friendly, convenient, and can leave some room for creativity. Unfortunately, however, our very own university noticed this too — and the money-making opportunities that come with it. Walk past the £150 Lululemon items in the University of Edinburgh gift shop and you’ll find the £45 university-branded water bottle. Because why not fork out £45 for the luxury of being a free advertisement for the university?
Sometimes, however, companies are generous enough to let us become walking advertisements for free. Take, for instance, the free Why Not Nightclub water bottle available at the freshers’ fair this year. Gone are the days of the small IKEA logo on the bottom of the glass — now, even our most treasured and feared local institutions have realised the money-making power of the humble water bottle.
Therefore, the problem isn’t the water bottle itself. It’s that you can’t just drink water any more: you either drink the latest trend that doubles as a reflection of your personality, or you act as a living, breathing advertisement for your local nightclub (my unfortunate situation). If you’re lucky, it’s free — otherwise, you pay with the small fee of your student loan and your view at dinner.
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This might become our topic of conversation at our next flat dinner if we can manage to see past the water bottles. Hopefully Bezos soon finds something even more profitable to sell us instead.
Photo by Bluewater Sweden on Unsplash.
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