Fiji, or Cleveland??

Cleveland often can’t catch a break, but at least its water is good. While drinking Fiji bottled water last night, I remembered a story that’s worth retelling about an ad campaign they ran last year. The ad, I’m told, talked about how pure the water was, and it ended with the tag line: “The label says Fiji because it’s not bottled in Cleveland.” Another slam.

But Cleveland, where drinking water is drawn from Lake Erie, had the last laugh. Officials there ran Fiji water through chemical analysis and found that it contained more arsenic that was allowable under the laws governing tap water purity in Cleveland (but still within federal health guidelines).

Fiji apologized (but refuted the analysis).

Now that story (and more) is retold in a new book: “Thirst: Fighting the Corporate Theft of Our Water,” by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman.

[Full photo: Sharkattack Nokia 6630 on flickr.com]