December 15, 2003

By: Holly Rebekah
Website: http://www.water-purification-filters.com

Penn & Teller make a mockery of bottled water

On March 7, 2003, entertainers Penn & Teller will examine bottled water on their program "Bullsh*t!" on the ShowTime cable network. Along with topics such as feng shui, pet psychics, alien abductions and other bizarre and unrelated topics, the 13-month series claims to examine and "debunk" social trends and "strange beliefs." Despite clever editing, sensationalized reporting, and over-the-top skepticism -- not to mention extremely coarse language -- the program may impact viewer/consumer perceptions about bottled water, regardless of the program's obvious satirical approach. The program may rely heavily on the 1999 report by the Natural Resources Defense Council and includes interview segments with NRDC's Eric Olsen.

For us, the presentation was mean spirited and grossly inaccurate.

Of particular concern was their mock water tasting. The on the street New York tasting appeared to use Evian as the bottled water brand. Evian has a distinct mineral taste and does not do well in water tastings. Using Evian was not representative of the majority of bottled spring water (or processed water) which is sold in the US.

The restaurant setup used cohesion by the "water sommelier" to convince the diners that they were drinking something different than they actually were. People, especially under the pressure of a social event, may go along with an aggressive waiter in order not to ruin an evening out on the town. How many times have you had less than perfect food or service at a restaurant and yet not complained because you didn't want to spoil the moment? If those people were given the proper tools to taste water in a non-aggressive environment, I believe the results would have been very different.

We think that Penn & Teller miss the important point about bottled water. It is a safe beverage that no one has ever gotten sick or died from. They put bottled water in the same category of tap water. That seems like thinking from decades ago. It would be interesting to send Penn & Teller a bottle of tap water which may or may not contain cryptosporidum, girdia, e-coli and some other contaminants (that do not exist in bottled water) and watch them drink it on air. They have been masters of illusion, but this broadcast was an illusion that failed and left a bad taste in our mouths.

Author Notes:

Holly Rebekah contributes and publishes news editorial to http://www.water-purification-filters.com.  Get educated on the benefits of water purification systems and different water filters available