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KwilsonCCO

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 12, 2004
41
0
GA
Did you stop and notice how they last few years that bottle water ,energy type drinks and starbucks coffee are making everyones money dissapear into their cash registers? What has happened to society? Everyone wants a bottle of water these days and if your out its cool to get a starbucks coffee to hold in your hand. I just wonder how much money they actually make on this stuff. Its no doubt that this stuff is popular because I was even in a dollar general yesterday and the had 4 packs of energy drinks for $6.50 ea. 5 hour energy bottles are postioned at nearly every checkout counter in america. Drinks and beverages are extremely cheap to manufactor and are huge profit makers.
Wish I had thought of bottling water,then I could have already retired.

So what you guys think it takes to make a drink to be popular and conveinent enough to make money off of it? Does it need to be able to meet a claim it has or just look cool to have in your hand to change society as we know it?
 
Energy Drinks

People are not as dumb as you think.... I don't know anyone that carries anything in their hand "to look cool".

Myself, and everyone at my work never buy coffee from places liker that, we all take turns buying big tubs of coffee to brew at work.

When I buy Bottled Water, it is normally when I lost my last bottle (I refill them with water from our filtered sink at home as many times as I can before I lose the bottle)

I only buy energy drinks when I am not feeling too hot in the morning and it feels like coffee would make me feel ill.

But, I only speak for myself: I'm sure their are some snooty people out there that only drink bottled water. I say drink it and be happy. You are employing someone working at the water-bottling factory, as well as the guy delivering the bottles.
 
I buy water just for the bottle itself... After I'm done with the water, I refill it for the filter built into my refrigerator.
I always carry water with me. Have to stay hydrated!
Its good for the libido.
 
The only drink I buy in shops when out and about is Coca Cola or maybe a Lucozade if I'm off a hike. Not a fan of tea or coffee so I get to bypass all that Loco Roco Latte Pate stuff
I can only have Volvic mineral water but they stopped selling that at our Costco. The tap water heres good enough! Not got that chalky bicarb taste present in every other bottled water.
 
I try and drink only water mostly and Beer and softdrinks occasionally. I drink maybe 2 energy drinks a month and a soda 2 or 3 times a week. I drink tons of water everyday from my Fridge filter. When I want coffee I buy it at the grocery store and brew it at home or drink what's at work.
 
I get annoyed whenever I go along and help my mum shop. Today she bought 12 bottles of water I think, all so my little brother and sister can take them into school/uni everyday.

I always have a bottle of water on me, but I replace the bottle about once a month and fill it from the tap. My brother, who is 18 and an idiot, is openly disgusted with the idea of using a bottle twice. I'll only buy bottled water if I'm in a country with dodgy or rank tasting drinking water.

Just throwing money down the drain. I'll occasionally drink in Starbucks etc but this is much more likely to be because

1. Meeting someone
2. Bad weather/early for something means I need somewhere to hang out

I justify the cost to myself by the fact that as many drinks as I buy are given to me free by a friend who works there so it's not too bad.

I never drink energy drinks. A favourite at my university was one that was fizzy and literally a sort of luminescent green, very weird. I try not to spend much money on drinks - water's my favourite anyway.
 
Huge city culture to hit Starbucks or have your bottle of San Pellegrino in tow. If you haven't noticed it, you've been living under a rock. Same all over the world. Same in Shanghai as it is in London.

Expensive as hell, and I opt out proudly with unwavering devotion. I respect my money and am loathe to waste it on extortionate consumables. I have some expensive tastes, but I make sure that the things I buy last years, not minutes.

Try telling that to the girlfriend though. She's in Starbucks every day, as were my ex's.
 
+1

Im glad to hear all these people saving money on drinking water!

Its crazy how much better you feel if you drink tons of water. I keep a water bottle on my desk at all times, be it work or home.

At my house, this is our "waterflow":

We got a big huge square jug of water with a spout on it, the kind you bring to a work site or something. We finished it off, and refilled it with our brita tap on our faucet. Then we throw it in the fridge, and bingo, limitless ice cold filtered water for next-to-free whenever we want!
 
I don't drink coffee or energy drinks. Will occasionally drink bottled water, but mostly it is from my filtered tap in my refrigerator.
 
As a whole I was referring to how its a normal part of society to have some type of a drink and how companies profit huge of customers
 
I enjoy the drinks that I buy at Starbucks. They taste good. Mmmmmmm.....I don't buy a drink to hold in my hand to be cool. Do people do that? That's pretty lame.:rolleyes:

I don't consider it a waste of money if I enjoy it.

I don't buy energy drinks or soda/pop.


BTW, refilling/reusing plastic water bottles isn't healthy. A chemical called Bisphenol A seeps into the water from the plastic, and then you drink it. That chemical has been found to cause health issues (although all studies have not been concluded). It would be better to buy a stainless steel (which is what I use) or a BPA-free plastic bottle and use that.
 
It seems as trends go someone gets rich like the ipod or iphone trend. If you only knew how to read trends you could profit from them

I even have inside knowledge of a product due in april that will be like viagra in a can
 
Try telling that to the girlfriend though. She's in Starbucks every day, as were my ex's.

Exactly. My wife drinks bottled water. I drink tap. She does the Starbucks thing. I don't get that either. But you know what? We're talking at most a hundred bucks a month.

She's happy. Whatever. Life's too short to get hung up on trivial crap like this.
 
Im glad to hear all these people saving money on drinking water!

Its crazy how much better you feel if you drink tons of water. I keep a water bottle on my desk at all times, be it work or home.

At my house, this is our "waterflow":

We got a big huge square jug of water with a spout on it, the kind you bring to a work site or something. We finished it off, and refilled it with our brita tap on our faucet. Then we throw it in the fridge, and bingo, limitless ice cold filtered water for next-to-free whenever we want!

I do something like that. I have two 1 gallon pitchers filled with water from the Brita filer on my tap. I have never understood why people buy bottled water for the home when so may other options are available. The tap filter is cheap compared to buying bottled water. Heck, if you want to get fancy, get one of the fridges with a built in water filter. For traveling, I have a couple of stainless steel water bottles I can take with me. I also use a small ice chest to keep the bottles and some sodas cold.

Back to the original question:

So what you guys think it takes to make a drink to be popular and conveinent enough to make money off of it? Does it need to be able to meet a claim it has or just look cool to have in your hand to change society as we know it?

Marketing, marketing, marketing. I was in a store the other day, and I noticed they had their Dasani water supposedly on sale. The 20oz was still something like $1.19. The same size generic brand bottle was 89 cents, yet people kept grabbing the name brands. Why? Because they recognized the name. The water probably came from the same place, yet because of the name, people kept buying the Dasani stuff. One other thing I often find amusing is when the bottled water costs more than the soda. I mean, soda has water plus a bunch of other ingredients, and yet it costs less than pure water? How does that work? How much can it really cost Coke to stick a Dasani bottle under a tap and fill it up?
 
Energy drinks? Phooey on that. Then again, I'm too old to be part of the hip crowd.

Starbucks is crap. I hate it and rarely drink it, except when the pre-wife and I are in B&N (she gets 50% off, and then it's still overpriced).

I'm also a southerner, so I drink a boatload of tea - a gallon or so every 2 days.

The only bottled water I like is the lemon variety of this stuff.
 
You make out like this is something new. Ever heard of this company? It's been around a while.

Coca-Cola-723214.jpg
 
You make out like this is something new. Ever heard of this company? It's been around a while.

Like I said, it's all about the marketing. And they have had a long time to get theirs right.

I think this is just one part of things that make your money disappear. Think about the things many people now consider "essential" that we didn't have 20-30 years ago. Think about how much money people spend on monthly fees. THAT is what really sucks your money. How much do you spend on high speed internet, that iPhone with data plan, cable/satellite, Netflix, satellite radio, etc? We weren't paying for any of that stuff 20 years ago, and yet many people now consider them essential. And then they gripe about not having any money. This kind of stuff can really drain your money.

To see how expensive the latte stuff really is, check out David Bach's Latte Factor. He breaks down how expensive it can really be.
 
I do buy bottled water but recently switched to using a filter attached to the water line under my kitchen sink. I fill a various bottles for fridge storage and coffee use and drink from a 32-oz Nalgene bottle throughout the day (normally).

I have a single serve coffee maker and my cups are .35¢ each as opposed to the $1.70 per medium cup I used to drink at Starbucks 3 x a day. If the mood struck I'd buy a $5.00 coffee. Haven't had starbucks outside an airport in a year.

I don't normally drink energy drink because they make me sleepy, but on occasion I've been known to drink one during the day. I don't buy them regularly.

This wasn't all for the environment, it was because I was tired of hauling water up my stairs, tired of driving or walking to starbucks, and the cost of those damn energy drinks is exorbitant.
 
instaxgirl said:
Because viagra in pill form is just too inconvenient?

Viagra requires a prescirption
The drink does not

So do you agree that hugh marketing and name brands are what sell products?I believe it isnt hard to get people to drink beverages because we must consume some type of a liquid to survive.

Second question
Beverages are some of the highest profit producing product out there ? T or F
 
I used to work at a place where we got free bottled water. Boss liked to keep the place clean and was always throwing them in the trash, even if they weren't empty. True, some people left them after their shift, but I always took them with me-- they were the only bottle that perfectly fit my cupholders. I used to get pretty upset when I found my half empty bottle was tossed--so bad for the environment!!

I don't buy bottled water, and I don't bother with a filter.

I don't buy starbucks coffee very often, but if I'm driving, I am a fan of the McDonald's frappes...those are more of a desert than a coffee, though. And, that's maybe once a month, if it's late at night and I want to stay alert on the roads.

Energy drinks, I buy less than ten a year, almost always for finals week at uni. :)

I also rarely eat out, only on days when my class schedule has me on campus during lunch.

I miss out on some of the social aspects of eating out or the enjoyment of fancy beverages, but I spend all the money I save on my hobbies. Good incentive for me. :)
 
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