Is some bottled water worth screwing over an entire island?
Fiji Water's business practices might not be as pure as its product.
All businesses have a responsibility to pay their taxes. But for quite some time,
that rule didn't exactly apply to Fiji Water,
as it claimed tax-exempt status from the very first drop of water tapped for production.
The company evaded tariffs of any kind from Fiji's government on the grounds that the
bottled water business was an industry that didn't leave much room for failure.
That argument ended up sticking for an entire decade. This was far longer than
what the initial agreement called for, as the exemption was supposed to end altogether by 2008.
Eventually, the company's tax-free status ended when the Fijian government
imposed new regulations on bottled water companies in 2010, though there was some resistance. In
total, Fiji Water paid $764,000 Fiji dollars, or roughly $431,000 American dollars, in water taxes.
Companies trademarking a symbol or phrase makes sense in a lot of cases.
Just consider the iconic Nike swoosh and the slogan "Just do
it." But trademarking the name of an entire country? That takes some nerve.
Fiji Water apparently isn't afraid of testing the limits of intellectual property, as it's actually
trademarked the word "Fiji," although only the stylized, capitalized version that's printed on
the bottle. Furthermore, there's also a patent for the design of the distinctive square bottle.
A big corporation lording over the little guys is nothing new, but Fiji Water has taken it to
some new extremes. Because of the registered trademark, Fijian citizens have become entangled
in legal troubles for printing the word on bottled water that they've produced themselves.
Mohammed Altaaf, the owner of Aqua Pacific water, is one such individual who experienced
legal pushback after including "Fiji" in his brand name. As he told Mother Jones in 2009:
"It's just like branding a water America Water and
denying anyone else the right to use the name 'America.'"
Fiji Water propelled the island nation to international stardom upon making its way
across the globe in the late 1990s. Subsequently, that led to mineral
water becoming the country's top export, a distinction it's held comfortably ever since.
"Nah, son, get the Fiji! Evian is gross!"
Prior to the rise of bottled H2O, Fiji's biggest industry was sugar,
which encountered a massive boost in the mid-20th century with the government-run
Fiji Sugar Corporation, as well as special trade deals with the European Union.
Factors like new pricing regulations and emerging industries have impacted sugar's
long-term success. Fiji Water then quickly became a crucial part of the country's economy.
Considering that the company reportedly reaps $43 million in revenue every year,
it isn't shocking to discover that it forms the economic backbone of an entire country.
Fiji Water's founder is David Gilmour, a Canadian business tycoon who's worn
many hats over the course of his career in the tourism sphere. Some of his most
notable pursuits are reportedly in the fields of real estate and gold mining.
And the bottled water business wasn't his first rodeo with the Republic of Fiji.
In fact, his relationship with the South Pacific island goes back
decades and involves the field that he seems to thrive in the most:
the hospitality industry. Before Fiji Water was tapped from volcanic rock below the Earth, Gilmour
established a chain of hotels in the late 1960s called the Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation.
He launched the venture with his business partner Peter
Munk and garnered generous funding from investors to bring the resort to life,
including powerful elites like Saudi princes. The enterprise enjoyed prominence in the region,
including a particularly extravagant location within Fiji itself.
His investments in Fiji aren't just limited to the business world,
as he also actually owns an entire private island on Fiji called Wakaya.
Celebrities endorse a variety of products, and you can certainly
include fancy bottled water on the list of things that the rich and famous love.
Fiji Water's prestige image simply wouldn't be the same without the enthusiasm of A-List followers,
which includes famous faces from TV, movies, music, and politics.
Oprah Winfrey, Justin Timberlake, Nicole Kidman, and Barack Obama are all among
those who have been spotted sipping from this particular square bottle.
"Can — can I get some water?"
One star who's exceptionally infatuated with this tropical import is Mary J.
Blige. A tour rider of hers from 2006 that was obtained by The Smoking Gun
shows exactly how dedicated the singer is when it comes to obtaining her favorite beverages.
For starters, she specifically requested Fiji Water over the bottomless selection of
bottled water brands. Under the extensive list of demands for her dressing room
was a request for "12 large bottles 1.5 liters of water" that could only be Fiji.
Everyone needs to hydrate, after all, especially in-demand singers like Mary
J. Blige who need to keep their vocal cords in working condition before the big show.
Have you ever noticed how Fiji Water doesn't seem to do much advertising?
It might seem strange that such a sizable global brand wouldn't
embrace the high-energy marketing that capitalism typically demands.
But that's because there's a different strategy at play here. Part of Fiji Water's
upscale reputation comes from opting for product placement in lieu of traditional advertising.
Fiji has been featured in a variety of movies and TV shows,
finding its way onto sets and award shows thanks to David Gilmour's close industry ties.
Famous Fiji cameos include TV shows like Friends and Ballers and movies like The Hangover.
And we of course can't forget the Fiji Water Girl at the 2019 Golden Globes.
David Gilmour reportedly didn't want to sink a ton of cash into mainstream ads,
although in recent years, the brand has produced a limited amount of more traditional commercials.
It's undeniable that bypassing traditional methods makes Fiji more exclusive and thus more covetable.
Seeing a famous fashion designer taking a swig of it on the red carpet
is probably more effective than a random advertisement tucked inside a newspaper,
and it's proved to be a winning strategy for maintaining the brand's intrigue.
"Duh! Winning!"
Bottled water has become a hot-button issue among environmentalists, and the
concern is well-founded. Manufacturing Fiji Water uses up a ton of resources,
whether it's the electricity powering its bottling plant or the mountains
of plastic shipped all the way from China to make its packaging.
Fossil fuel emissions are a far cry from the Garden of Eden-esque image that the brand
proudly promotes. Just consider that it reportedly takes 1.75 gallons of water for the production,
export, and distribution of one bottle of Fiji Water.
Multiply that by a million, which is the average batch transported out of
its factory on a daily basis, and you've got yourself a very large carbon footprint.
Fiji has promised to commit to sustainability, including using recycled plastic for its bottles,
but it's unclear how much of a difference that will ultimately make.
With a reported $43 million made every year, Fiji Water is a prosperous business.
But raking in the dough doesn't necessarily translate to spreading that wealth to others.
The majority of Fijian people simply don't enjoy the spoils brought in by Fiji Water.
Around 12 percent of the total population reportedly lacks a reliable source to
clean drinking water. Furthermore, crumbling infrastructure in the form of eroded drain
pipes has led to public health crises including lethal typhoid outbreaks.
Fiji Water likes to highlight its investment in local communities to demonstrate that
it gives back. The Fiji Water Foundation, for example, provides funding for eligible
schools across the island in the form of teaching grants for classroom necessities.
"We are working together with the people to protect this area
for the benefit of current and future generation."
The company also employs many Fijians and brings money to the country's economy. Nevertheless,
Fiji Water's business model is predicated on exporting a
natural resource that the Fijian people need in order to survive.
Paying virtually no taxes for the first decade-plus of its existence was a boon
for Fiji Water's growth. But that era eventually came to an end in
2011 when the Fijian government issued a new rule on bottled water businesses.
Under the revised water extraction tax, companies would be charged 15 cents for each liter of water
if their monthly output exceeded 3.5 million liters. Fiji Water was only paying one-third
of a cent at the time and found itself the only corporation standing to be charged that amount.
Outraged by this decision, Fiji decided to shut down its factory in protest and laid
off all the employees in the process, threatening to pull out of the country
altogether. The stand-off only lasted a day, and the workers got their jobs back,
but these strong-arm tactics have left a sour taste that no fancy bottled water can wash away.
Companies that portray an eco-friendly image without delivering on substantial promises
are committing what's referred to as "greenwashing." Fiji Water has been
criticized for this practice to the point that it's even faced legal trouble for it.
In 2011, a California woman sued the company for falsely perpetuating the claim that its products
were "carbon-negative," when reality showed otherwise. The issue reportedly originated
from Fiji's 2007 pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 120 percent through an extensive conservation
program that included planting trees across 2,000 acres of the South Pacific region.
"I'm trying to save a planet here."
The problem was that Fiji Water wasn't actually "carbon-negative."
Instead, it was allegedly utilizing future numbers in a system known as forward crediting,
as their goals wouldn't actually be met until the year 2037 at the soonest.
Essentially, Fiji was prematurely claiming credit
for an outcome that hadn't yet occurred and marketing its water to reflect that,
thereby manipulating consumers' trust to sell a higher-priced product.
The company's current sustainability page does not mention its past carbon-negative promise.
Cleveland, Ohio has been the butt of jokes for seemingly the entirety of its existence.
Its drab architecture and lackluster athletics have
granted it a particularly unfortunate nickname: "The Mistake by the Lake."
Fiji Water attempted a similar burn in 2006, when it ran a series of print ads punching
down on the city and its water supply. The ads featured the offending tagline:
"The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland."
Understandably, Cleveland wasn't very amused by this full-page mockery, which Fiji attempted to
brush off as "just a joke." But what happened afterwards is where it gets interesting.
City officials actually ran a test on Fiji Water to see whether the ad held up to scrutiny.
The verdict was that it wasn't as pure as Fiji would've preferred.
High levels of arsenic, 6.31 micrograms per liter to be exact, were found in the square bottle,
which was more than other water brands and
even the tap water flowing from the city of Cleveland itself.
German composer Hans Zimmer has set the tone for several Hollywood blockbusters,
including Dune and Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.
Along the way, he's earned countless honors from the likes of the Oscars and the Grammys.
If you’ve sat down to watch a movie in the last 10 years,
you've almost certainly heard his pulsing, dramatic music in the background at some point.
When Fiji Water got into the TV marketing game, they booked the
famed composer in 2021 for a series of commercials called "It's Not Just Water.”
The idea behind the campaign was to show exactly how Fiji Water is made
through each of the elements responsible for it: cloud, rain, rock, and aquifer.
Zimmer created four 15-second snippets of sound for the project,
and the grandiosity of the topic matches the composer's equally serious approach to
channeling it with authenticity. He emphasized "purity" in a press release, as he declared,
"In building the music to represent this journey from scratch, I wanted it to be impressionistic,
closer to my feeling of nature, my feeling of what purity is all about."
"I take you on a journey. The water takes you on a journey."
If Fiji is looking for some big-budget attention,
then nabbing one of cinematic music's all-time greats is certainly the way to do it.