• The Wall Street Journal, Friday, May 23, 2008 10:45 AM

In the late 1970s, French company Perrier launched a $4 million advertising campaign to convince Americans to drink bottled water, something only Europeans did up till then. Perrier's business tripled, until reports of contaminants in its products sullied the company's reputation in the U.S., creating a vacuum that dozens of other companies have stepped in to fill. And that, in a nutshell, is why Americans today spend $11 billion on an item that could just easily have for free.

In the new book Bottlemania, author Elizabeth Rote traces the history of bottled water marketing in the U.S., from Perrier's first inroads to Fiji's battle with the city of Cleveland over whose water contained less cyanide. It's a story of clever campaigns and constant backlash-and endless profits.

A central question in the book is whether any drinking water is truly safe. In the end, she concludes, regardless of the ad campaigns or those who speak out against them, tap water is almost always the way to go.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »