Message In A Bottle

Two great articles in this month's issue of Fast Company.

The first article, by Charles Fishman, narrates the meteoric rise of the bottled water industry. From ancient times to the present where bottled water has a chokehold on the global beverage market, Fishman details our fascination with bottled water, and tries to wrap his head around what it all means to us, the environment and our wallets.

A few choice nuggets:

• Americans drink more bottled water than milk, coffee and beer combined.
  
• Last year, we spent more on bottled water than we did on movie tickets, ipods and dry cleaning combined.
• Aquafina and Dasani–marketed by Pepsi and Coke respectively–hold about a quarter of the domestic market share, yet their product is merely purified municipal tap water.
  

Check out more factoids, as well as a sobering revelations on an industry that essentially fleeces us daily, but make us feel oh so healthy.

Second, but just as great a read, is this month's cover story on what may be one of the most impressive brand makeovers of this decade: Al Gore's comeback from epic loser (circa. 2000) to multi-millionaire, climate change spokesperson/impresario and potential kingmaker for the 2008 elections.