No one really disputes that consumerism has become a dominant force in our society. When President Bush suggested we respond to 9/11 by spending money and visiting Disney World, most saw it as keeping with the American spirit. This “buy first, ask questions later” attitude is epitomized by the bottled water business — specifically on game day in Tiger Stadium. Bottled water serves as a case study of how consumerism has gripped our society and influenced consumers.In bottled water’s defense, it proves useful in some situations. When the portability of water is in question — such as in developing countries or after a major disaster — bottled water is a reliable and necessary resource.But what is bottled water’s place in everyday society? Why are we consuming millions of bottles of water every year?Like many products, the key to making the sale is convincing buyers they need your product — and much of bottled water’s success can be attributed to its marketing. It should be no surprise beverage titans PepsiCo and Coca-Cola produce two major water brands, Aquafina and Dasani, respectively. Borrowing a page from the highly competitive soft drink market, the companies peddle their wares behind soothing blue labels and catchy names.It must have sounded like a joke when the first executive proposed it: “Hey, what’s that free stuff that comes out the faucet? What if we sold that!”In fact that’s exactly what the two leading companies did. Could there be a better example of how easy it is to create consumers, or how warped people’s evaluations of goods are? In fact the two leading companies have historically misrepresented their products when they really are derived from municipal water sources.Some say they chose bottled water for quality reasons. Besides the fact most of the water is from municipal sources, it should be pointed out Baton Rouge has some of the highest quality water in the country. In places like New Orleans, as I can attest, it is absolutely acceptable to drink bottled water because that stuff from the faucet tastes like crap.Some people will say, “If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to buy it,” or “This is America, we have a free market.”Here’s the problem though. Because consumers are so easily influenced and are buying bottled water, it limits the rational choices of other people.Take Tiger Stadium. At a football game thirsty fans are limited to two options. Fork over $3 for a “Tiger Water” or use one of the water fountains scattered around the stadium. Of course if you chose to drink out of the fountain you must leave your seat. If you want to fill up a cup of water, you must buy a cup at the full price (sorry, no outside containers). According to David Heidke, director of Dining Services, the reason why you must buy an empty cup is for accounting purpose. Dining services needs to be able to oversee the operation to make sure volunteers aren’t pocketing any cash.Do Tiger fans really think it’s worth paying $3 simply to have something to sustain life? Probably not.At that price it would cost you around $350 to fill up a car’s gas tank with Tiger Water.Excluding the crowd who buys Tiger Water because they think it’s made from real tigers or is somehow better than regular water, which is hopefully small — it seems most bottle water purchases are a result of consumer complacency.People should be able to watch the game and drink water at the same time. They should also be able to realize how dumb it is to pay $3 for something that is normally free.It seems consumers could have an arrangement that allows them to enjoy water at a reasonable price — if they cared enough to ask.An independent water cup would resolve the accounting issue in supplying fans with empty cups while providing a necessary service.Can you blame them for selling us water at such an inflated price? With such an easy sell, it’s no surprise the University is willing to continue this lucrative policy.So far we have been willing to go along with it.Maybe it’s not that big of a deal. Maybe people realize they are wasting money by paying for something they could get virtually for free. They might even see it as a way of supporting charitable groups and benefiting the Tigers a few days out of the year.If the fans that go to LSU football games simply raised the issue it seems perfectly reasonable that an accommodation could be made so people could enjoy one of man’s basic needs without interrupting game.Otherwise the water arrangement will remain a flaw in our society — a testament to how consumerism can allow for a booming business in selling something that’s normally free. —-Contact Mark Macmurdo at [email protected]