Vitaminwater: Appearance v. Reality
20-Somethings Female Interviews
Introduction
After interviewing Kari Reed, Lindsey and I sat and contemplated the direction we wanted our next interview to take. Unfortunately, neither one of us had a single "expert" come to mind, so we reflected upon the research we already had. So far, our research was presenting that of the Center of Science for the Public Interest and Coca-Cola’s perspective. In this, the voice of the public was lost. To compensate for this void, Lindsey and I realized what we refer to as our epiphany: keeping our process and product, outside of credible articles to that of a perspective of women from our generation. Up to that point in our research, Kari Reed along with Lindsey and I followed this rule and we intended to continue along this line of thinking by implementing another layer of interviews with females ages 20-28.
Participants: Linsey Seifert, Dawn Roy, Kim Longo, Tarrah Martinelli, Jessica Winter, Megan Norris, Casey Curl, Sarah Pickell, Ashley Hoffman, Stephanie DiBella, Lindsay Finkelstein, and Megan Frantz
Interview Questions:
1. Do you think VitaminWater is a healthy beverage? What is your answer based on?
2. Do you drink VitaminWater? If so, do you have a particular flavor that you prefer?
3. Do you ever buy certain products based upon its color?
4. What is your reaction when I tell you that VitaminWater on average has 33 grams of sugar per bottle? What do think of VitaminWater having a small percentage of arsenic in its ingredients?
5. Do you believe that VitaminWater has been advertised as a healthy beverage? Based on what I have shared with you, do you think that VitaminWater’s marketing campaign is ethical or fair?
Repeated Themes:
- Participants allow color to influence their purchasing habits.
- Participants are surprised at the amount of sugar in VitaminWater.
- Participants are terrified that VitaminWater contains arsenic.
Participants: Linsey Seifert, Dawn Roy, Kim Longo, Tarrah Martinelli, Jessica Winter, Megan Norris, Casey Curl, Sarah Pickell, Ashley Hoffman, Stephanie DiBella, Lindsay Finkelstein, and Megan Frantz
Interview Questions:
1. Do you think VitaminWater is a healthy beverage? What is your answer based on?
2. Do you drink VitaminWater? If so, do you have a particular flavor that you prefer?
3. Do you ever buy certain products based upon its color?
4. What is your reaction when I tell you that VitaminWater on average has 33 grams of sugar per bottle? What do think of VitaminWater having a small percentage of arsenic in its ingredients?
5. Do you believe that VitaminWater has been advertised as a healthy beverage? Based on what I have shared with you, do you think that VitaminWater’s marketing campaign is ethical or fair?
Repeated Themes:
- Participants allow color to influence their purchasing habits.
- Participants are surprised at the amount of sugar in VitaminWater.
- Participants are terrified that VitaminWater contains arsenic.
Linsey Seifert
"People try to candy-coat with VitaminWater."
"I think it was one of the pink ones. I know that is vague."
"I know that it has vitamins and all that kind of stuff, and that is good, but at the same time it is just not worth the calorie intake."
"It is advertised as if it is the greatest thing for you. In reality, it is just as bad as soda."
"Ethical is a hard word to use... I think its just like any other marketing these days. They try to make it look natural and something that is good for you. Really, when you turn the bottle around and look at the label, it is just the same. I think they are definitely trying to make it something it is not."
"I think it was one of the pink ones. I know that is vague."
"I know that it has vitamins and all that kind of stuff, and that is good, but at the same time it is just not worth the calorie intake."
"It is advertised as if it is the greatest thing for you. In reality, it is just as bad as soda."
"Ethical is a hard word to use... I think its just like any other marketing these days. They try to make it look natural and something that is good for you. Really, when you turn the bottle around and look at the label, it is just the same. I think they are definitely trying to make it something it is not."
Dawn Roy
"I tended to go with nicer colors. Thinking back on it now, it was a silly decision to make when you are putting something into your body. Like I said when it is a quick decision or not that much choice you go for whatever looks the best."
"That's scary. I can't believe that. You think of arsenic as being one of the old poisons they used to kill rats with not something that I would put in my body today."
"It is the consumer's responsibility to really understand what they are getting into. As far as ethics, that is such a grey area especially in advertising. People really just want to get their product out there and make as much money as they can. It is hard to even incorporate ethics since money and ethics are such a hard thing to balance."
"That's scary. I can't believe that. You think of arsenic as being one of the old poisons they used to kill rats with not something that I would put in my body today."
"It is the consumer's responsibility to really understand what they are getting into. As far as ethics, that is such a grey area especially in advertising. People really just want to get their product out there and make as much money as they can. It is hard to even incorporate ethics since money and ethics are such a hard thing to balance."
Kim Longo
"[VitaminWater] can be [healthy]. They definitely promote it in gyms. The gym I attend has it in their little refrigerators."
"The cherry or the strawberry- likepink colored."
"The appearance [influences what I buy]."
"I wouldn't consider it as unethical because every company has to cover up its brand, but it makes you really consider what is healthy and what is not. That really concerns me."
"The cherry or the strawberry- likepink colored."
"The appearance [influences what I buy]."
"I wouldn't consider it as unethical because every company has to cover up its brand, but it makes you really consider what is healthy and what is not. That really concerns me."
Tarrah Martinelli
"Yes [I think VitaminWater is healthy]. It is called VitaminWater, and it tells you the different reasons why each different bottle is healthy for you, like the different energy it will give you."
"I forget what one it is, but it was the dark purplish one. I picked it on flavor, but also I used to get whenever I hung-over all the time, I would get the one that was like called" rejuvenating' and stuff because I was like alright this will help me feel better."
"Considering that I used to drink it all the time, I probably have a lot of arsenic in my body."
"I think that there are a lot of drinks that are advertised as a lot worse healthy than that, but considering that it has arsenic in it and all that sugar...it's not fair."
"I forget what one it is, but it was the dark purplish one. I picked it on flavor, but also I used to get whenever I hung-over all the time, I would get the one that was like called" rejuvenating' and stuff because I was like alright this will help me feel better."
"Considering that I used to drink it all the time, I probably have a lot of arsenic in my body."
"I think that there are a lot of drinks that are advertised as a lot worse healthy than that, but considering that it has arsenic in it and all that sugar...it's not fair."
Jessica Winter
"I liked the yellow one."
"I feel like its a lot of sugar to have because when I think of the gram, I think of a piece of chalk. So, I think of like 33 pieces of chalk filling up this bottle."
"I feel like its a lot of sugar to have because when I think of the gram, I think of a piece of chalk. So, I think of like 33 pieces of chalk filling up this bottle."
Megan Norris
"I would assume that [VitaminWater is healthy] because it is called VITAMINwater."
"I have bought products based on their color."
"Absolutely unethical to give anybody arsenic without letting them know. It is horrible!"
"I have bought products based on their color."
"Absolutely unethical to give anybody arsenic without letting them know. It is horrible!"
Casey Curl
"I used to drink VitaminWater and then I think I kind of considered it as a juice, so I assumed maybe it had a lot of sugar or something. So I stopped drinking it."
"The focus, which I think is the pink one."
"Within the VitaminWater, I know they gave like certain like 'If you drink this you will feel better' or if you drink that it will give you this."
"Not at all [ethical]. They definitely leave out a lot, obviously."
"The focus, which I think is the pink one."
"Within the VitaminWater, I know they gave like certain like 'If you drink this you will feel better' or if you drink that it will give you this."
"Not at all [ethical]. They definitely leave out a lot, obviously."
Sarah Pickell
"Yea I do [buy things based upon their color]."
"What? It does? [Arsenic] kills you!"
"No [Coke's advertising campaign isn't healthy]. Putting arsenic in like a product and you're saying that it is healthy for people. That is just wrong! And like the sugar too because it is supposed to be 'healthy', and like a lot of sugar isn't healthy for you."
"What? It does? [Arsenic] kills you!"
"No [Coke's advertising campaign isn't healthy]. Putting arsenic in like a product and you're saying that it is healthy for people. That is just wrong! And like the sugar too because it is supposed to be 'healthy', and like a lot of sugar isn't healthy for you."
Ashley Hoffman
"Yes, I believe that it is healthy based on the ingredients and everything on the label. It says that it has vitamins, minerals, and nutrients for you. So, I would like to believe that it is healthy for you."
"I probably [bought VitaminWater based on it's color] because purple is my favorite color, but it is also my favorite flavor."
"There are too many calories and too much sugar, and even if the things that are healthy inside of it, I felt like that was too much for me."
"Um.. WHAT? I didn't know that, I mean I guess it wasn't enough to kill me, but that's not cool."
"I probably [bought VitaminWater based on it's color] because purple is my favorite color, but it is also my favorite flavor."
"There are too many calories and too much sugar, and even if the things that are healthy inside of it, I felt like that was too much for me."
"Um.. WHAT? I didn't know that, I mean I guess it wasn't enough to kill me, but that's not cool."
Stephanie DiBella
“Yes, I do because of the advertisements on TV, I guess they do, I see sports and showing them it’s a healthy beverage for when you work out or play a sport.”
“I do not drink Vitaminwater, but I have tasted it, I’ve tried it.”
“I am definitely like a cherry, strawberry person so probably like the red ones or the pink ones.”
“I do not drink Vitaminwater, but I have tasted it, I’ve tried it.”
“I am definitely like a cherry, strawberry person so probably like the red ones or the pink ones.”
Lindsay Finkelstein
“Honestly, I’m not big on sodas and juices like that. They are too sweet for me, but if I was to [drink Vitaminwater] it would be more based off of color like oooh that’s pretty!”
Megan Frantz
“I actually drank it when I was sick because there is one with antioxidants in it. It’s a red one.”
Afterward
In order to gain perspective from females in our generation, Lindsey and I sat down with a number of 20-something females to discuss their personal opinions of Vitaminwater in regards to health. The questions were opinion-based and fairly easy to answer. It was interesting to observe how our participants were energetic and willing to offer any insights and judgments they had on the issue when they were off-the-record, yet our participants were reserved and neutral once the cameras were turned on for the most part. We have hypothesized that their confidence on-the-record is based only within the information they knew to be fact. Furthermore, a common trend as mentioned in the introduction is the influence of color. It is interesting that every single interviewee mentioned the concept of color or a specific color that persuades them into buying VitaminWater, not to mention the health buzz words. In reviewing all 12 of the interviews, Lindsey and I were pleased to see that we increased the volume and breadth of the voice of our 20-something females.
