A Drink to Your Health (Unless We Also Sell the Sugary Stuff)

"Bottled water sales in the past have grown mainly from consumers moving to water from soda and other sugary beverages," fueled by rising childhood and adult obesity rates. But ads for bottled water don't push the health angle, because many bottled water companies also sell soda. For example, Aquafina is made by PepsiCo and Dasani by Coca-Cola. Nestle -- which does not sell soda -- is now seeking to counter "concerns that bottled water is a bad choice for the environment" by raising concerns about the health impact of soda. Its new "antisoda" campaign is focused on "the Hispanic community because it drinks more bottled water than most other ethnic groups." Nestle's antisoda ads, which appear on U.S. Spanish-language channels like Univision and TeleFutura, promote the company's Pure Life bottled water. The ads feature talk-show host Cristina Saralegui, who says, "Drinking water instead of three sugary drinks per week for a year will spare you seven pounds of fat." The Hispanic marketing agency behind the ads, Castells & Asociados, says they have been "off-the-charts effective." Publicis' Dallas office is working on an English-language version.