Bottled Water and My Next $illion

Bottled water has been the most incredibly profitable thing that ever happened to Pepsi and Coca Cola. As Americans, who have the safest water in the world, became enamored of bottled water the opportunity must have seemed ridiculous. By removing the carbonation, the flavorings, the preservatives and the sweetener from their products they could sell the water they were putting into bottles for the same amount as they sold the bottles with the carbonation, flavorings, preservatives and sweetener. I would guess they delayed doing this for months not believing that Americans would be stupid enough to by their filtered city water back at 10,000 times their cost. You pay $1 for what cost them twenty cents to produce and distribute.  I want a piece of this profit.

I will call my product  "Cloud Juice" with the assertion "This product contains 100% juice from all or some of the following: cumulus, nimbus, cirrus and stratus clouds." The FDA doesn't require the bottler to include the warning that there might be traces of the solvent they used to clean the filters. My lab may create different mineral supplements to affect the acidity and taste of the water. Different labels would brand various PH values. The label would include a string of detachable PH paper that you could test your specific bottle. We might need to add a thermometer strip as the temperature of the water can affect PH and other characteristics that determine flavor.

When I say bottled, I mean truly bottled. Glass is pure. It does not react with the water. It is completely air and water tight. Maybe I could get a Chihuly design. Glass is environmentally correct. It is the ultimate representation of silica. It is 100% natural and does not degrade like plastic and aluminum. Water is the universal solvent. Glass will protect it and enhance it.

Now for pricing. Despite the fact that I'm just following the lead of megabottlers using filtered city water, this is going to be a designer brand. I'm thinking $5 a bottle. A dollar of that will be deposit on the reusable designer bottle. It will be the water of the rich and famous. Of the richer and infamous. Celebrity endorsement will be the key. Status is so much more important than taste. After all, Mencken laid it out, "Nobody has gone broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people."

Who's in?