Ethos Water - fraud at $tarbuck$

[Roninvancouver]

So I'm in $tarbuck$ this morning grabbing a triple shot, half caf, half soy half skinny vanilla chai latte when I see this basket of water bottles

Ethos water, $2.35 portion of the proceeds goes to help provide clean water in africa, they are trying to raise $10 million by 2010

Okay first of all, $2.35 for 700 ml of water? water? the stuff that falls from the skies?

That makes it $3.35 a litre or roughly 3 times the price of gas

A portion of the proceeds does go to help provide clean drinking water, $0.05 per bottle.

That means in order to raise the $10 million they will need to sell some 200 million bottles of water.

Can we imagine the cost to the environment 100 million plastic bottle is going to cost? Not to mention the cost and pollution of carting them all around?

If I were to donate just $10 to a cause in africa that helps to provide clean drinking water, that would be the equivalent of 200 bottles of water

Does anyone fall for this shitt?

This really pisses me off, someone needs expose these frauds

http://www.ethoswater.com/

http://external.cache.el-mundo.net/navegante/imagenes/2005/07/15/1121427554_extras_ladillos_1_0.jpg

[bigdaddyyc]

How'd you find out its $0.05/bottle? yea i agree this is ridiculous. It should be a law to specifiy what portion of the proceeds are going to the charity. Look at the site, this product has based its marketing on the charity, and only contributing 5c is a scam. thanks for pointing this out, I hope some newspapers/news outlets expose this junk. **** makes me mad

edit nvm found it: "Starbucks announced that Ethos water would donate 5 cents for every bottle of Ethos sold anywhere and a contribution goal of US$10 million to over five years to help children and their communities get clean water."

http://www.ethoswater.com/index.cfm?objectid=6FA93E4F-F1F6-6035-B91D178EA0C1ED59

[Blunt]

$2.35 for a bottle of 700ml water???!!
Where is it bottled, the moon??
:razz:

[goob3r]

So I'm in $tarbuck$ this morning grabbing a triple shot, half caf, half soy half skinny vanilla chai latte

:confused:

[bigdaddyyc]

at 2.35 a bottle, starbucks should at least match the 0.05 ethos is putting up. Come on, a marketing campaign like this deserves at least 10% of sale price.

[dark169]

how is it fraud?

Is it not water in the bottles? is not 5cents a portion of the proceeds?

You paid 5 bucks for 35cents worth of coffee beans and hot milk and water, not a big stretch to pay 3 for a bottle of unheated water :lol:

[Impossibles]

Something's gotta pay for the marketing hype that convinced you to buy $6.50 coffees.

[rajab04]

This is a logical scam, a part of the modern bussiness policy. I doubt even 20% of the money collected by recognised chaities goes to help the poor.

there was a scam bust by the Toronto Star few months ago, it said ' MADD(Mother against Drunk Driving) spends 81% donation for their own. The news promped the CEO of MADD to temporarily close all its donation boxes across canada.

[V A N Q U I S H]

Bah staples did the same thing with their easy button, initially the product was brought out only so that $100,000 could be raised for special Olympics by donating a small portion of the sales.

After going way beyond the $100,000 even by giving the small portion they decided to milk it for all it had, and continue selling it as a regular product. :|

[hightechfan]

So I'm in $tarbuck$ this morning grabbing a triple shot, half caf, half soy half skinny vanilla chai latte when I see this basket of water bottles

Ethos water, $2.35 portion of the proceeds goes to help provide clean water in africa, they are trying to raise $10 million by 2010

Okay first of all, $2.35 for 700 ml of water? water? the stuff that falls from the skies?

That makes it $3.35 a litre or roughly 3 times the price of gas

A portion of the proceeds does go to help provide clean drinking water, $0.05 per bottle.

That means in order to raise the $10 million they will need to sell some 200 million bottles of water.

Can we imagine the cost to the environment 100 million plastic bottle is going to cost? Not to mention the cost and pollution of carting them all around?

If I were to donate just $10 to a cause in africa that helps to provide clean drinking water, that would be the equivalent of 200 bottles of water

Does anyone fall for this shitt?

This really pisses me off, someone needs expose these frauds

http://www.ethoswater.com/

http://external.cache.el-mundo.net/navegante/imagenes/2005/07/15/1121427554_extras_ladillos_1_0.jpg

1)This is not fraud at all.If there was no water in the bottle maybe then you would have a case.

2)They filter etc the water so it is a bit different then the avg water.

3)I do agree it is a bit much but its your choice to buy it or not.

[bigdaddyyc]

1)This is not fraud at all.If there was no water in the bottle maybe then you would have a case.

2)They filter etc the water so it is a bit different then the avg water.

3)I do agree it is a bit much but its your choice to buy it or not.

This would be clean business if they said 5 cents of every bottle sold will be..... instead of a portion of the proceeds.

[bigdaddyyc]

Something's gotta pay for the marketing hype that convinced you to buy $6.50 coffees.

good point, but starbucks doesn't use 'help the poor' as their marketing campaign when they are claiming to help the poor for a large marketing boost that will generate considerably more profit then what they will be actually donating. In other words, they are raping the cause for what it's worth. On a side note, your a ****** to pay $2.35 for water when you can get a $1 bottle and donate the rest to whatever the hell you want.

[15-20_God]

starbucks is one of the biggest greenwashers out there. everytime you buy a coffee from starbucks a tree in the rainforest gets cut down and falls on a baby seal killing the food supply of the horny baboon.

[Lone_Prodigy]

This would be clean business if they said 5 cents of every bottle sold will be..... instead of a portion of the proceeds.

5 cents is still a portion. A very small portion, but it's technically correct.

I wish they'd donate some more though. 10 cents from every Happy Meal once in a while doesn't add up to a lot.

[ipoptags]

good point, but starbucks doesn't use 'help the poor' as their marketing campaign when they are claiming to help the poor for a large marketing boost that will generate considerably more profit then what they will be actually donating. In other words, they are raping the cause for what it's worth. On a side note, your a ****** to pay $2.35 for water when you can get a $1 bottle and donate the rest to whatever the hell you want.

THANK YOU! was hoping this would be said, forget the 5 cents that might just make it to the less fortunate, I'd rather buy a descent quality bottle of water for $1-1.50 MAX and donates the rest to a good cause

[deep]

So I'm in $tarbuck$ this morning grabbing a triple shot, half caf, half soy half skinny vanilla chai latte...
And you think the water is a scam?

[deep]

starbucks is one of the biggest greenwashers out there. everytime you buy a coffee from starbucks a tree in the rainforest gets cut down and falls on a baby seal killing the food supply of the horny baboon.
Yes, and thank god they do.....horny baboons are the number one cause of greenhouse gas emissions.

[peroxide8888]

So I'm in $tarbuck$ this morning grabbing a triple shot, half caf, half soy half skinny vanilla chai latte:confused:

Half caf = half regular coffee/half decaf coffee
Half soy/half skinny = half soymilk/half skim milk

Got it? Good! :cheesygri

BTW, I think he was being facetious :rolleyes:

[ji2o0k]

first off, whoever came up with the idea of bottled water is a genius.

It is expensive and you can get water pretty much free from the tap. The quality of the water in the bottles are sometimes worse or no better than tap water.

Even the water that comes from "glaciers" and springs aren't necessarily any better than tap water.

And Starbucks is creating the perception of contributing back to society by giving back through this campaign. Perception is reality people.

But it is good that there are intelligent people to see through the smokescreen. $0.05 of every bottle sold, wow who are they trying to fool?

[charliebrown]

first off, whoever came up with the idea of bottled water is a genius.

It is expensive and you can get water pretty much free from the tap. The quality of the water in the bottles are sometimes worse or no better than tap water.

Even the water that comes from "glaciers" and springs aren't necessarily any better than tap water.



Well, there's spring water, distilled water and then there's "purified" water like Dasani (aka tap water filtered 5 times).

Usually, there's no real cost to the bottlers except the PET, the filling equipment, shipping (LARGE %), and the land where the factory sits. I believe some jurisdictions charge a royalty for extracting the water, similar to oil & gas royalties.

And ppl complain about $1/L for gas :lol:

[pintobean]

For some reason, this story reminded me of a totally unrelated scam I was forced to run at the chain restaurant I bartended at a few years ago. One summer the head honchos decided it would be cool if we sold freshly squeezed lemonade, but they decided it would be a waste of labour dollars to pay bartenders like me $6/hour to squeeze it. So they contracted with a freshly-squeezed juice company like Jugo Juice or Orange Julius to deliver jugs of freshly squeezed lemonade to each restaurant every day. The stuff cost us an arm and a leg, and we were supposed to sell it for $3.49 for each 8oz glass. Well my boss decided that he wasn't going to pay that much for lemonade, so he cancelled the delivery and made me run to the grocery store and buy a bunch of those $0.69 cans of McCain frozen lemonade (the kind that comes in a can and you add 3 can-fulls of water). Each can yielded something like 6 glasses of lemonade and my boss decided he'd still sell it for $3.49 if anyone was dumb enough to buy it. Well the first day we ran the promotion, we had a large party come in from IBM, and the women in the group decided to drink the lemonade by the pitcher because their manager said he would pay, but he wouldn't let them order alcohol. The look on the manager's face was priceless when the waitress delivered the bill with something like $100 worth of lemonade on it...the worst part was that the stuff cost us $0.12 per glass and we sold it to him for $3.49.

[dealguy2]

For some reason, this story reminded me of a totally unrelated scam I was forced to run at the chain restaurant I bartended at a few years ago. One summer the head honchos decided it would be cool if we sold freshly squeezed lemonade, but they decided it would be a waste of labour dollars to pay bartenders like me $6/hour to squeeze it. So they contracted with a freshly-squeezed juice company like Jugo Juice or Orange Julius to deliver jugs of freshly squeezed lemonade to each restaurant every day. The stuff cost us an arm and a leg, and we were supposed to sell it for $3.49 for each 8oz glass. Well my boss decided that he wasn't going to pay that much for lemonade, so he cancelled the delivery and made me run to the grocery store and buy a bunch of those $0.69 cans of McCain frozen lemonade (the kind that comes in a can and you add 3 can-fulls of water). Each can yielded something like 6 glasses of lemonade and my boss decided he'd still sell it for $3.49 if anyone was dumb enough to buy it. Well the first day we ran the promotion, we had a large party come in from IBM, and the women in the group decided to drink the lemonade by the pitcher because their manager said he would pay, but he wouldn't let them order alcohol. The look on the manager's face was priceless when the waitress delivered the bill with something like $100 worth of lemonade on it...the worst part was that the stuff cost us $0.12 per glass and we sold it to him for $3.49.


Well at least you guys didn't piss in the lemonade like I often did when I worked at the lemonade factory.

[UrbanPoet]

Well at least you guys didn't piss in the lemonade like I often did when I worked at the lemonade factory.

nice!!! did u work there back in the summer of 2001?

[ji2o0k]

Well at least you guys didn't piss in the lemonade like I often did when I worked at the lemonade factory.
hahahah man, that is just nasty.............good thing I don't drink lemonade !

[wiggy]

Okay first of all, $2.35 for 700 ml of water? water? the stuff that falls from the skies?

Life should be so simple. Do you walk outside and open your mouth to the clouds when you're thirsty? The stuff was packaged for your convenience, tested for safety, shipped to where it would be convenient for you to drink it, nicely labelled and displayed to entice you, and chilled to the temperature you like to drink it at. It hardly fell from the sky. If it breaks you up, drink tap water. And be glad you live in a country where the availability of potable water is not a big deal. Yet.

While I'm inclined to be sympathetic to your view of Starbucks approach as being little more than a "green scam", that kind of stuff hardly empowers your argument.

People buy the stuff because its easy for them. Its the world we live in. I find it appalling that folks think its good to assuage their guilt by "contributing to the environment" and buying green credits and all that other crap instead of taking the time to make more meaningful choices.

[aquariaguy]

So I'm in $tarbuck$ this morning grabbing a triple shot, half caf, half soy half skinny vanilla chai latte when I see this basket of water bottles

Ethos water, $2.35 portion of the proceeds goes to help provide clean water in africa, they are trying to raise $10 million by 2010

Okay first of all, $2.35 for 700 ml of water? water? the stuff that falls from the skies?

That makes it $3.35 a litre or roughly 3 times the price of gas

A portion of the proceeds does go to help provide clean drinking water, $0.05 per bottle.

That means in order to raise the $10 million they will need to sell some 200 million bottles of water.

Can we imagine the cost to the environment 100 million plastic bottle is going to cost? Not to mention the cost and pollution of carting them all around?

If I were to donate just $10 to a cause in africa that helps to provide clean drinking water, that would be the equivalent of 200 bottles of water

Does anyone fall for this shitt?

This really pisses me off, someone needs expose these frauds

http://www.ethoswater.com/

http://external.cache.el-mundo.net/navegante/imagenes/2005/07/15/1121427554_extras_ladillos_1_0.jpg

You're buying their coffee already, which was what, $4.50? That's fraud already.

[aevol]

$2.35 is cheap compared to this:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2862517610301228131&hl=en

[poedua]

You're buying their coffee already, which was what, $4.50? That's fraud already.

Exactly...that's why " Starbucks" should be re-named " 4 bucks ! "

It's a bit hypocritical to blast them for over-charging for water when they grossly over-charge for coffee just because cup sizes are described using Italian names and they're being prepared by " baristas "

Wanna a Light-Iced, Double-Shot, Non-Fat, 8-pump Sugar-Free Vanilla, Extra Caramel, Caramel Macchiatto. ?

That is so stupid and really speaks ( not only for itself ) but to the Starbucks brainwashing that people are subjected to, to spend money on over-priced coffee .......and it'll cost ya !:lol:'

[deep]

...and they're being prepared by " baristas "
Exactly. I always open conversations with them "Excuse me, hot fluid dumper? Could you manage to pull that lever to dump some hot fluid in this paper cup for me?" Barista my ahhhhsssss.

[mrcantrell]

But who's fault is it that they charge so much for their goods? The consumers.

It's the people that buy things at those prices that allow *bux to continue to charge the prices they charge. Personally I love the product, but I just can't bring myself to pay $4.00+ for a beverage, so I don't. That's my choice. If everyone thought that way then *bux would have to lower their prices to stay in business, same as Second Cup and Timothy's who also charge these kinds of prices.

You have the choice, exercise what you feel is right and understand that *bux (just like everyone) is out there to make a profit.

[Emancipated]

Life should be so simple. Do you walk outside and open your mouth to the clouds when you're thirsty? The stuff was packaged for your convenience, tested for safety, shipped to where it would be convenient for you to drink it, nicely labelled and displayed to entice you, and chilled to the temperature you like to drink it at. It hardly fell from the sky. If it breaks you up, drink tap water. And be glad you live in a country where the availability of potable water is not a big deal. Yet.

While I'm inclined to be sympathetic to your view of Starbucks approach as being little more than a "green scam", that kind of stuff hardly empowers your argument.

People buy the stuff because its easy for them. Its the world we live in. I find it appalling that folks think its good to assuage their guilt by "contributing to the environment" and buying green credits and all that other crap instead of taking the time to make more meaningful choices.


Well said. Tell me; do you have any vices, indulgences, guilty pleasures?

[Alvito]

this is a good reason to boycott starbucks.

[Becks]

Bottled water in the night clubs cost like $3. Bottled water at Joe Fortes is $4. Bottled water at the Hyatt is around $4. Bottled water at the gas station is also a rip off, but I don't remember how much it was. Please don't rag on starbucks!!! If you want their filtered tap water, it is free.

[wiggy]

Well said. Tell me; do you have any vices, indulgences, guilty pleasures?

Many. I drink coffee and eat chocolate (but not the fair trade or organic stuff). Not all my veggies are local or organic. I drive a car.

But I've switched half the light bulbs :idea: in my place to those fluorescent ones, so I'm good. :)

[broc]

Didn't you just pay 3-4 bucks for your triple shot latte... but you're complaining about an expensive bottle of water? I little ironic, but I agree- anyone who pays 2.35 for a bottle of water is ********. Starbucks isn't the friggin Skydome.

[infinite.chaoz]

Didn't you just pay 3-4 bucks for your triple shot latte... but you're complaining about an expensive bottle of water? I little ironic, but I agree- anyone who pays 2.35 for a bottle of water is ********. Starbucks isn't the friggin Skydome.

Perhaps its holy water blessed by the pope.

If $0.05 per bottle goes to fund clean water for African nations, then I think they are better off just sending these bottles of clean water to Africa.