Cool water for your kids

by Jonathan M. Forester, Posted Nov 30th 2006 @ 7:03PM

Bottled water is big business and so is marketing to kids. Combine the two and you get several new lines of kids' bottled water. You have bottles like Poland Spring's ( a Nestle Corporation) Aquapod. The Aquapod is a "fun shaped bottle" in an 11 ounce size that fits well in a kids hand and is a sporty, modern shape. Their slogan is "change the shape of what kids drink." I guess since the bottle has a sort of football, rotund spaceship/submarine shape it could be used as a toy and tossed around. You could squirt your buddies with a well aimed squeeze, and even bean your friend across the room with a nice toss. Hey, what's not fun about that? Mom's across the country this summer discovered that the bottles float, even when full, something the Nestle folks didn't even plan. So they write their kids names on them and toss them into the pool so their kids can sip and swim, keeping nicely hydrated without having to be dragged out of the pool for a drink. They even have website tie-ins with the Aquapod Squad computer game.

Nestlé also has an 8 ounce bottle of fluoridated water with a safety twist cap for ages 2 to 6, which has made the company # 1 in the fluoridated water category. Other water brands have been making small size water bottles and been aiming at kid's health, like Fiji Water's, Lil'Fijis (sold exclusively at Target) with a celebrity chef campaign to promote healthy eating. Spring!, Dannon's small-bottle product line has Fluoride to Go and a safety twist cap , and Coca-Cola's P.A.C.K. program, has lunchbox menu's and tips with "kid-sized packages with cool graphics."

Then you have the brands that just focus on labeling, like the Kids Only brand which has its "Fun factor" line sporting characters like Scooby Doo and Spider-Man. Anyway you look at it, water for kids is big, with a focus on fun, health, and making it easy to get them to drink. When I was a kid and on the go, out and about in the neighborhood, I had fun water too. I called it The Garden Hose. Everyone had one and they were readily accessible. Well, whatever works. Bottoms up folks.

Filed Under: Trends, Drink Recipes, New Products
Tags: aquapod, flouride, fun factor, hydration, kids only, lil'fiji, spring!, water

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Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-30-2006 @9:40PM Allison said... I'm going to hell for this,
but I misread that label as "Aquapoo"
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LOL... So did I the first time I saw it, I did triple take before finally realizing it wasn't poo. --JMF--
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11-30-2006 @11:50PM bucket said... I bought the aquapod for my kids lunches the other day. It was the first time I had seen in at my local store.
I prefer the kids take water over juice. I especially avoid the capri suns as they are just water and corn syrup, but I do wish they sold water in the same kind of packaging as the capri sun's.

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12-01-2006 @9:04AM nyscof said... Parents need to know that fluoride is neither a nutrient nor required for healthy teeth. Federal statistics show that American children are fluoride overdosed whether they drink fluoridated water or not. Fluoride overdose leads to dental fluorosis - white spotted, yellow, brown and/or pitted enamel.

Furthermore, fluoride gets into tooth enamel by topical means; but swallowing it leads to adverse effects. Best to stay away from every obvious source of fluoride because fluoride is in almost the entire food supply in varying and unlabeled amounts.

For more info

Fluoridation 101
http://www.orgsites.com/ny/nyscof

Fluoridation News Releases
http://tinyurl.com/6kqtu

Tooth Decay Crises in Fluoridated Areas
http://www.fluoridenews.blogspot.com/

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