Last Thursday, there was a group of students who were demonstrating how "evil" Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Poland Springs, and other water bottling companies were by showing how they are "lying" to people by charging for "spring water" when really it’s filtered tap water. They tested this to see if people could taste the difference between tap water and bottled water.
They were saying that these companies are using deceptive advertising and taking water away from countries that don’t have any water.
Wow, let’s talk about the blind leading the blind.First off, doing a water taste test does ”’NOT”’ prove that that bottled water is tap water. It simply proves that it tastes the same. Second, even if it was "tap water" in bottles, all you have proven is that tap water tastes just as good as bottled water. It does not prove that companies are being deceptive or that these same companies are taking water away from third-world countries. Third, you still have to prove that the bottled water contains chlorine, bromine, fluoride, and other chemicals that are in tap water to show that they are, indeed, the same.
I think this is one of the major problems with college/youth-based protests. These "taste tests" are in them of themselves deceptive. Even assuming that it’s true, all they have done is confuse people by saying taste equals results, when really tastes just equals tastes. The fruit equivalency of this is showing that gala apples taste the same as red delicious apples, so therefore gala apples are really red delicious apples.
My grip with this is that it seems like these "anti-corporation" groups make things seem more simple than they really are. And because simplicity often shows things in more black and white, it will persuade people who really don’t know any better to agree. I’m convinced that I could go to campus and say something that’s completely false (as long as it is, you know, liberal) and most people will agree. In fact, I’d like to test this:
Let’s say…Mars Incorporated, makers of beloved candies such as M&M’s, Snickers, Twix, and Skittles, has recently purchased cocoa bean trees in South America through monopoly-like tactics. Since they are the largest chocolate manufacturer (not true), they are able to refuse to purchase from these "third-world" countries (say here that most people don’t know that parts of South America are considered a third-world countries) (also not true). We need people to sign a petition to get congress to pay a fair price back to the Chileans or the US will fine them and do it by force. Also, we want people to sign a petition with the Food and Drug Administration to get Mars candies pulled from the shelves because of how they are getting their cocoa. (The FDA really doesn’t have the power to do this.)
See? Sounds convincing doesn’t it? You can do the same thing with McDonald’s, Giant, Microsoft, Gap, Nike….change the "facts" to suit your needs.
It’s ironic that college students, who are there to learn and research, are persuaded so easily by their emotions. I wonder if this is an indication of a bigger problem…
