The Truth About Fiji Water

"It begins as a cloud." So starts the life cycle of one of the world's leading bottled water brands, Fiji Water. Founded by a Canadian businessman in 1996, the artesian water supplied by an underground reservoir on the Fijian island Viti Levu tapped into an expanding market of prestige beverages (via Mother Jones). It bypassed Evian for imported H₂O in America and remains a status symbol among celebrities from movie stars and models to American presidents. Per BizVibe, it is one of the top water brands in the world and flows globally throughout Canada, Australia, Spain, and Germany (via eTurboNews).

Paying big bucks for something as basic as water isn't surprising when the marketing surrounding Fiji Water is so attractive. Water extracted out of a volcano certainly evokes environmental purity. And yet, this narrative only gives a glimpse of the actual story driving its success. Fiji Water has been involved in a number of scandals since its inception decades ago. Some of the scandals directly conflict with the brand's natural, healthy image. These findings include disregard for the environment, shady business decisions, and cynical political maneuvering. The untold truth of Fiji Water is finally here, so join us as we explore the murky terrain of a controversial company. 

Trademarking a symbol or phrase only makes sense when its association can't be debated — think the iconic Nike swoosh or Paris Hilton's catchphrase "That's Hot" (via CNN). But trademarking the name of a country? That takes some nerve. Apparently, Fiji Water's not afraid of testing the limits of intellectual property, because it's actually trademarked the word "Fiji," albeit only the stylized, capitalized version that's printed on the bottle. Additionally, the design of its distinctive square bottle also has a patent (per NPR). We suppose it's one thing to legally claim credit for unique packaging, but how much credit can Fiji Water take for the name of the island nation keeping its business alive?

A big corporation lording over the little guys is nothing new of course, but Fiji Water's taken it to new extremes. Because of the registered trademark, Fijian citizens have become entangled in legal troubles for printing the word on bottled waters they've produced themselves. As Mohammed Altaaf told Mother Jones, who experienced legal pushback after including "Fiji" in his brand name,"It's just like branding a water America Water and denying anyone else the right to use the name 'America.'" 

Fiji Water's founder is David Gilmour, a Canadian business tycoon who's worn many hats over the course of his career in the tourism sphere — some of his most notable pursuits are in the field of real estate and gold mining, per Forbes. Obviously, Fiji Water made him a household name, but the bottled beverage was not his first rodeo with the Republic of Fiji. In fact, his relationship with the South Pacific island goes back decades and involves the field he seems to thrive in the most: the hospitality industry. 

Back before Fiji Water was tapped from volcanic rock below the Earth, Gilmour established a chain of hotels in the late 1960s called the Southern Pacific Hotel Corporation. He launched the venture with his business partner Peter Munk and garnered generous funding from investors to bring the resort to life, including powerful elites like Saudi princes (via Mother Jones). Mother Jones also confirmed that the enterprise enjoyed prominence in the region, including a particularly extravagant location on the island of Fiji itself. But Gilmour's investments in Fiji aren't just limited to the business world. He actually owns an island on Fiji called Wakaya, according to Forbes.

Ever noticed how Fiji Water doesn't seem to do much advertising? Not many TV commercials, no radio jingles that get stuck in your brain like glue. It's strange for a global brand of its size not to embrace the high-energy marketing that capitalism demands, but that's because there's a different strategy at play. Part of Fiji Water's luxe, upscale reputation comes from opting for product placement in lieu of classic advertisements. As Martin Roll reveals, the water's been featured in a slew of movies and TV shows, finding its way onto movie sets and award shows as a result of David Gilmour's close industry ties. Famous cameos include "The Sopranos," "Brothers and Sisters," and movies like "The Thomas Crown Affair," though the viral-friendly Fiji Water Girl at 2019's Golden Globes undoubtedly deserves an honorable mention (via The Cut).

As Forbes mentions, David Gilmour apparently didn't want to sink a ton of cash into mainstream ads, which explains Fiji Water's noticeable absence from television screens and car radios (although in recent years, the brand has made a limited amount of more traditional commercials). It's undeniable that eschewing traditional methods makes it more exclusive and more covetable. Seeing a famous fashion designer taking a swig of it on the Red Carpet is probably more effective than a random advertisement tucked inside a newspaper, and it's shown to be a winning strategy for maintaining the brand's intrigue. 

Military dictatorships are the last thing we would associate with bottled water. Yet Fiji Water is no ordinary bottled water company. Fiji Water's faced accusations of profiting during a moment of mass political upheaval in Fiji. In 2006, the country was thrown into disarray when Commodore Frank Bainimarama successfully overthrew the government, executing the fourth military coup Fiji has had since the 1980s (via RNZ). Right from the start, the new regime went to work dismantling outlets for public dissent, including newspapers and other sources of media, according to Mother Jones. 

An alarming event by any measure, this apparently didn't dissuade Fiji Water. Instead of halting production at its bottling plant in the Yaqara Valley, the bottled water enterprise continued chugging along and did not comment on the coup, prompting outrage and concern over its ethics (via The New University). Certainly, some might argue that businesses aren't obligated to speak out about politics. But it's different when it's a company with international stature like Fiji Water. The writer from The New University argues that staying silent while a military regime guts the top branches of government and free expression could be read as tacit support for the coup, or at least a lack of concern for the country Fiji Water extracts its product from.

It's safe to say that with $43 million made every year per Zippia, Fiji Water is a prosperous business, both in Fiji and the world over. Yet raking in the dough doesn't necessarily translate to spreading that wealth to others. The majority of Fijian people don't enjoy the spoils brought by Fiji Water. Around 12% of the total population lacks a reliable source to clean drinking water via The New University, and crumbling infrastructure, namely eroded drain pipes, has led to public health crises including lethal typhoid outbreaks (per Vox).

Fiji Water likes to highlight its investment in local communities as a way of saying it gives back. The Fiji Water Foundation, for example, provides funding for eligible schools across the island in the form of teaching grants for classroom necessities. This remains true to an extent, as the array of charitable causes on its website shows. The company also employs many Fijians and brings money to the country's economy, as NPR points out. Nevertheless, Fiji Water's business model is predicated on exporting a natural resource that the Fijian people need in order to survive. 

Companies that portray an eco-friendly image without delivering on substantial promises are committing what's called "greenwashing." Fiji Water's been criticized for this practice, to the point that it's faced legal trouble for it. In 2011, a California woman sued the company for falsely perpetuating the claim that its products were "carbon-negative," when reality showed otherwise. Per GreenBiz, the issue originated from Fiji Water's 2007 pledge to reduce carbon emissions by 120% through an extensive conservation program that included planting trees across 2,000 acres of the South Pacific region. 

The problem was that Fiji Water wasn't "carbon-negative." Instead, it was allegedly going off of future numbers in a system known as forward crediting (via Mother Jones), because Fiji Water's goals wouldn't actually be seen until far later in the future (2037 at the soonest, per Vox). Essentially, Fiji Water was prematurely claiming credit for an outcome that hadn't occurred and marketing the water to reflect that, manipulating people's trust to sell a higher-priced product. The company's current sustainability page does not mention its past carbon-negative promise.

Cleveland, Ohio has been the butt of jokes for as long as we can remember — per Reuters, its drab architecture and lackluster athletics have granted it a particularly unfortunate nickname, "The Mistake by the Lake." Fiji Water attempted a similar burn in 2006, when it ran a series of print ads punching down on the city and its water supply. The offending tagline? "The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland" (via The Washington Post).

Understandably, Cleveland was not amused by the full-page mockery, which the brand attempted to brush off as "just a joke." But what came after is where it gets interesting. City officials actually ran a test on Fiji Water to see whether the ad held up to scrutiny. The verdict? Turns out Fiji Water isn't as pure as it appears. Higher levels of arsenic — 6.31 micrograms per liter — were found in the square bottle, which was more than other water brands and even the tap water flowing from the city of Cleveland itself.