(Watch the ad above first, try it)
Try reading this whole essay in one breath through a mirror while standing on your head. Try Opulence and Consumerism. Try it. Vitamin Water ads, particularly, XXX (pronounced Triple-X) ads are based on risk in the implausible. They dare the viewer to do something outlandish and XXX, by juxtaposition, is also risky. It is a challenge, and the next most daring thing to “giving an Amazonian howler monkey a bikini wax” is to try XXX. At their most base levels, the ads are a dare. By the way, are you still holding your breath? Didn’t think so, but that is not the point. The product’s appeal is based on the challenge not the completion of the challenge, or even the possibility of the challenge. The ads are memorable for their shortness and for the uniqueness of their dares and because of this they accomplish their task.
The ads target a mainstream audience, but unlike other mainstream ads it relies on a natural proclivity towards risk. It is the enticement of a lifestyle. Vitamin Water focuses not as other drinks with supplemented vitamins do for health, but the vitamins in Vitamin Water are a stimulant that will enable any drinker to pursue their own challenges. Taking Opulence and Consumerism will not enable a person to hold their breath for the entirety of this essay, nor enable one to read it backwards and upside down, but the framing suggests that it might. It is the juxtaposition that imposes a placebo effect. However, none of this answers the main question. Are these ads in response to culture or does culture respond to them, in turn leading people to desire to take more risk. The answer is that the ads are a response.
Vitamin Water cannot create an inclination towards risk, but it can bring it out. Something which is as primal as a challenge cannot create a reaction for it is an innate response. But why does a viewer feel compelled to take the challenge? It is because risk is associated with coolness and success. Furthermore, there is an aura of edginess that lends itself to Vitamin Water. It is an antiestablishment tone that has been around since the 60’s, but still felt today and drawn upon through their image. There are hangover jokes on Revive labels, innuendos on XXX and Kelly Clarkson song lyrics on Focus. It is mainstream, but on the edge. Not the fringe and weird, but the edge and cool. It is an attitude that success is born out of, an attitude that everyone wants, but few have. Drinking this product is that chance to live on the edge, to be on top of the world alone, and to accomplish things which no one else can.
The flavors of Vitamin Water are not flavors, but needs. They are the innate drives in every person that long to be satisfied. The needs that Vitamin Water addresses vary from hangovers, to pornography, to ADD and exhaustion. Take a guess at which need XXX addresses. Vitamin Water takes a formerly taboo phrase and uses it as a flavor. Talking about this product like this might beg the question, what kind of sick person needs their pornography fix satisfied so badly that a drink is the only relief? This is a valid question, but Vitamin Water is not about pornography. It is about consuming the dangerous and taboo in a safe environment. It is an illusion of danger found in single-servings. Plus, Glacéau “only named this drink xxx because it has the power of triple antioxidants to help keep you healthy and fight free radicals.”
Glacéau is now a part of the Coca-Cola conglomerate. Coke for generations has showed people how to be cool and the addition of Glacéau is no exception to their heritage. The company’s website is the opposite of a cut and dry corporate website. It is a fusion of information and entertainment, highlighting Vitamin Water’s personality in all lowercase writing and playful phrases such as “well spare you the cheesy “on hold” music” and “party of 1? your table is almost ready” [sic] while the site is loading. Their ads have since moved on from their five-second spots on television to full thirty or sixty second ads. Prior to signing prominent athletes and artists, ads were focused on individual varieties rather than the line as a whole. The product has moved from obscurity to prominence and its ads reflect this recognition. However, the ads that Vitamin Water began with are still part of their company and website. Clicking the XXX bottle for more information will trigger the ad from above to play and each flavor has its own ad to go along with it. The ads are tailored to match the characteristics of the flavor and there is even an option to create your own ad of the same format (link is at the bottom). Clearly, even though the ads are no longer on television, they are still an intricate part of Vitamin Water’s persona.
Vitamin Water has taken on a personality of its own from advertising. It is not a drink in a store refrigerator, but a thing waiting to be drank and read. Its television ads pose the question of what Vitamin Water is and the labels hold the answer. The sides of the drink read as person would speak to a friend and drive home the point that this drink is for the people that catch the jokes on it. Vitamin Water is not for the person who loves conformity, but for those who despise it. Adorno and Horkheimer talk about artists “who belong to the industry long before it displays them” (Adorno and Horkheimer) Kelly Clarkson is, ironically enough, the epitome of an artist who is owned by her industry. However, this is something that works for Vitamin Water rather than against it. Their image is based on the individual within industry. “Spontaneity” is what is stolen first from careerists, but Vitamin Water is what allows a break from the monotony of professional life (Adorno and Horkheimer). It makes anything possible. There is still an aspect that is hard to grasp. It is that Vitamin Water is a multi-billion dollar, national company that also supplies people who do not buy into this antiestablishment attitude. It is that Vitamin Water is the illusion of rebellion. It is the safety net, an insurance policy for people. XXX does not cause people to be spontaneous, or even mean that its drinkers should be, but that they can. It even mimics alcohol labels’ “Drink Responsibly” warning by displaying that is was “made for the center for responsible hydration (aka glacéau)” [sic]. Vitamin Water is the drink for those who know what irresponsible hydration is.
Vitamin Water has many look-a-likes but there are none which possess the image that Vitamin Water has adopted. Vitamin Water is chosen over imitators such as Antioxidant Water made by Snapple for the same reason that Coke is drank over RC. They are essentially the same product with a key difference in marketing. Klein comments on how logos take over brands or the how the “alligator...swallowed the shirt.” (Klein) In this case it is not the alligator that has swallowed Vitamin Water, but Vitamin Water's image that has swallowed the product. Vitamin Water sponsors individuals, not leagues as other major brands do, but this is planned. It adds to their rebel persona, that none of the sports or genres of music could do Vitamin Water justice. It is about outstanding individuals who are capable of anything. Sponsoring rigid corporations such as the NFL, or NBA would be everything that Vitamin Water could never stand for. It is why ads do not challenge someone to run a 4.2 forty-yard dash, but to “Try teaching tai chi to a community of aging nudists.” (Below) The ads neglect to cater directly to athletes because even athletes are a commodity. Commodities are replaceable but an individual is not. Individuals can “Try swimming the Atlantic after just swimming the
The ads for XXX are very simplistic. Both simply have a background split in two colors corresponding with the colors on the label and a picture of the bottle at the bottom. The word “try” never leaves the left half of the screen and is said out loud three times while Vitamin Water is never mentioned. The ad contains no more than a person could absorb in five seconds, and each flavor has at least one ad specificallyfor it. This series of ads thrived on the product’s relative obscurity, but possesses more than pure shock value. The ad represents the trait which each flavor will give the drinker. Moreover, each flavor forms an identity from their ad. XXX’s identity is inappropriateness and risk. Its personality is the reason that people will continue to drink it over similar substitutes. This personality is what draws a new drinker in or to a new flavor. The flavor itself will keep a drinker loyal to it, but when a need arises, flavor will take a backseat to function. Function is what Vitamin Water has that other products do not. It is practically a drug. However, it is a drug based primarily on the placebo effect. It is based on the mentality of the drinker that the flavors are more than different colors, but different compounds.
Vitamin Water is not the creator of a risk-based mentality, but a perpetuator of it. Above anything, drinking Vitamin Water is not about the fulfillment of any challenge, but a mentality to be able to do anything. It is 591ml of knowledge that the drinker does not have a stagnant life, but one that can not be predicted. It is the ability to at any time to step out from the monotonous everyday life and do something extraordinary.
Make Your Own Ad- http://www.vitaminwater.com/tryit/
Sources
Adorno, Theodor and Horkheimer, Max. The culture industry: enlightenment as mass deception.
Klein, Naomi. The Brand Expands: How the Logo Grapped Center Stage.
Vitamin Water. 2008. April 22, 2008. http://www.vitaminwater.com/
12 comments:
The Vitamin Water marketing strategy reminds me a lot of the Mountain Dew commercials, as both campaigns focus on outrageous stunts to associate their brands with extreme and often risky activities. These two commercials definitely represent an appeal to the counter culture. Both rely primarily on the image of their brand rather than the actual qualities and information about their product to sell their beverage. Vitamin Water never explains what vitamins are in their water or what flavors their drinks are. The color of the ad and bottle are the only clues given to the consumer. The labeling is as simplistic as their commercials and don’t distract the reader other than to draw its attention to one bright color and large contrasting text. Your description of Vitamin Water as having a placebo effect is perfect and exactly what they are trying to sell as you laid out, not just the drink, but the whole idea of edginess and risk.
I can definitely see your points about appealing to and practically becoming the counterculture, however the recent commercials with 50 cent, Brian Urlacher, and David Ortiz. Seem to contradict some of your points. I think you are right that they started out in counterculture, but they have since moved into the mainstream. 50 cent became one of the more popular rappers and Ortiz and Urlacher are practically national icons.
However, I think this prooves that their original marketing strategy was extremely successful, and allowed them to become a successful business.
Vitamin water definitely advocates that the viewer try outlandish things, and in essence almost promises their success if their product is consumed. I like how you mention that the flavors are not flavors, but needs. I suppose I have fallen victim to its effectiveness then, since I have definitely reached into the refrigerator and picked one flavor over another based off of the service it will supposedly provide me. The juxtaposition of XXX and risky, as well as being on the edge of mainstream are all very relevant and serve your cause well. Do you think that the transition from counter culture to mainstream attention will change some of these tactics now employed by Vitamin Water?
I'll admit I'm not very familiar with Vitamin Water, so your analysis was definitely eye-opening. It was very interesting to see that each flavor has its own personality, as dictated by their custom advertisements. This would allow many kinds of people to find a personality list that they wish (or do) describe(d) them, and thus cling onto the drink to be associated with that persona. It was interesting to read about the placebo effect at times in your paper. I would have liked to hear more about the role this phenomenon plays in the drink's consumption. By the way, what is Vitamin Water made of? Water, flavoring/coloring, and vitamins? Also, I would not have been able to discern that there were more than one flavor if it weren't for your stating as much. It is interesting that they don't put a great amount of emphasis on the FLAVORS, but rather draws attention to the viewer and dares them to partake.
Your comment that by daring the consumer to do something risky the brand itself becomes risky seems to relate directly with my research into Diet Mountain Dew. Diet Mountain Dew continuously shows its consumers doing risky and insane things (such as riding a shark or jumping a golf cart over the head of a pro golfer). The brand itself becomes edgy and intense, allowing it to them bestow those traits on its loyal consumers. I really enjoyed your example in the introduction paragraph of holding your breath through the essay. It was very effective when you reminded us of the dare and then said “it doesn’t matter” because they don’t care about the completion, but about the dare itself. It is interesting, because the more of these I read the more and more apparent it becomes that these brands are unable to provide their customers with what they advertise. I wonder if this trend toward creating a personal for the consumer is specifically applicable to beverages such as Diet Mountain Dew, Sprite, and Vitamin Water?
I like your analysis of the way Vitamin Water is promoting a rebellious attitude or nonconformity, but that it is not that the consumer needs to be rebellious, just that the drink can be. The advertisements use a similar ploy to Diet Mountain Dew’s extreme persona, but instead of attracting viewers that want to do crazy stuff, it attracts viewers that like the possibility of doing crazy stuff and think these challenges are cool because they provide an escape from everyday life. Why don’t they have these advertisements on TV anymore?
I feel that Vitamin water's uniqueness and appeal in the larger beverage industry lies in the vitamins that they use in their drinks. It is interesting to see how Vitamin water essentially sold these vitamins. I find their association of vitamins and "living on the edge" very interesting because "living on the edge" contrasts the healthy lifestyle that I connect to vitamins. I think this is Vitamin Water's attempt at making healthy "cool". I also think that Vitamin Water's success reflects the backlash to the unhealthy lifestyle of America. Do you think it is because of their backlash to the unhealthy mainstream of American society that Vitamin Water targets those who "live on the edge"?
Your exposure of Vitamin Water’s knack for offering false personalities for consumers that are looking to rebel from their actual personalities is enlightening. It presents the notion that marketers can actually offer alternate personas that, even if just for the brief time it takes to drink a bottle, customers can slip into. I wonder why, as others have, why Vitamin Water has recently drawn away from this sense of “pick your own identity” to “here’s the popular identity” with ads depicting mainstream celebrities. Does this reflect a failure of the first approach?
Being an avid Vitamin Water drinker, I have never taken a sip to satisfy a pornographic urge; but rather, think that Vitamin Water, unlike its now parent company Coke, is built on an anti-establishment philosophy that comes through in the design of the ads. Although Coke lost to Pepsi in the antiquated battle of the "cool", Vitamin Water more than makes up for this with their outlandish statements and youth, hipster following. I agree that Vitamin water is in fact a dare to be different and join a sort of counter culture that strangely, like so many of the products analyzed, seem to co-exist within the corperate structure from which they come. I like the structure of parts of the paper based around the Vitamin Water commercial structure with outrageous dares because the colloquialism lends legitimacy to the paper, however, I think the overall theme is a slight embellishment over the intention of the ads. Vitamin water is still a drink, used primarily to quinch thirt than to give one a sense of challenge and accomplishment. On a small, fleeting scale, I believe that Vitamin Water does serve to bring out the rebel in all of us; however, for me at least, the ads on the side serve as simply a slight distraction for me while I am consuming a delicious beverage.
Vitamin water certainly changed the usual water campaigns. It is interesting to see how Vitamin Water has created water to achieve certain goals as oppose to simply being different tastes, like the campaigns of dasani etc. Vitamin Water seemed to have started out as a little bit counterculture, but they appear to have streamlined. As their popularity has grown, they can sign larger clients, such as 50 cent and ortiz. Now with larger clients, they have entered the mainstream and truly become water moguls, still hanging on to their initial strategy of different waters for different goals.
I like that you chose to look at a relatively new product and the way its advertising brings it into the market. because it has no history, vitamin water really has to distinguish itself to viewers as something that is worth trying among all the gatorades and propels and snapples and sobes that have been around longer. You did a good job analyzing this campaign and getting the readers' attention, just as the sortof annoying and in-your-face ad did. I also liked your take on the meaning of XXX, although I feel its application to a bland water drink seems counterintuitive. I also found it interesting the appeal to counterculture, but also the appeal to celebrity, especially 50 cent, who, to me, is anything but counterculture...you explained how they somehow pulled this off.
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