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Can we stop this "Nestlé thinks water isn't a human right" BS already? http://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/human-rights/answers/nestle-chairman-peter-brabeck-letm

Can we stop this "Nestlé thinks water isn't a human right" BS already? http://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/human-rights/answers/nestle-chairman-peter-brabeck-letmathe-believes-water-is-a-human-right http://www.nestle.com/ask-nestle/human-rights/answers/nestle... I'm far from being a fan of Nestlé, but there are better arguments against their conduct than a single quote from the CEO years ago, misquoted and out of context.

ck2 10y ago
They do think it is their right to buy publicly owned municipality water and then sell it back to the public. I mean with soda at least they are putting a few cents per gallon into it. There should be a truth-in-advertising law they makes the bottle labels say "filtered publicly owned water $1".
- folli 10y ago
  In my opinion, the blaming is very one-sided. I mean what kind of municipality sells such rights to a private entity?
  - sobkas 10y ago
    The one that believes in trickle down economics!
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    Aquafina (Pepsi) and Desani (Coke) bottled water are municipal tap water that has been filtered. The source of the water is usually on the label.
  - tim333 10y ago
    The UK sold all it's water companies a while back. It sort of worked out but the bills went up.
- dagw 10y ago
  There should be a truth-in-advertising law Aren't there? I'm sure I've seen the source of the water printed on the water bottles.
  - ck2 10y ago
    The location/font-size for the brand and the source need to be switched if it is just water. Speaking of which, so we know some water sources but it is now legal to not mention food sources on many products.
parennoob 10y ago
No one is showing the clip of what he actually said, which is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWkA-uAPXCE#t=2m10s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWkA-uAPXCE#t=2m10s He does absolutely say that "NGOs bang on about water being declared a human right", at the time when he is relaxed, and even bringing up some Austrian folk song about water. He says absolutely nothing about limits, or just being careful. The page you linked is a great example of corporate damage control. I tend to trust what people say when they are being candid over what they say on a PR page.
- piquadrat 10y ago
  That video cuts off right before Brabeck states his own view. Thanks for proving my point that his quote is often taken out of context. Here's a longer one https://youtu.be/7iGj4GpAbTM?t=192 https://youtu.be/7iGj4GpAbTM?t=192 He states that he thinks it would be better to give water a price so that we are aware of its value, and take specific measures to provide access to water to people who can't afford it. Not the worst idea ever to fight water waste.
  - tehrei 10y ago
    "we are aware of its value" = corporate language for "to make our necks thiiiiiiiiiis fat". How much do Nestlé pay these days for damage control btw?
  - Kristine1975 10y ago
    I doubt people in third-world countries are unaware of the value of clean water.
    - piquadrat 10y ago
      Oh come on. He is clearly referring to the problem of water being wasted as a valueless common good, mostly in the western world. And indeed, what is happening for instance in California right now can be seen as tragedy of commons problem (see e.g. http://legal-planet.org/2015/07/13/tragedy-of-the-commons-california-drought-style/ http://legal-planet.org/2015/07/13/tragedy-of-the-commons-ca...) But sure, if you need to confirm the BigCo CEO as incarnation of Satan, go ahead...
gurkendoktor 10y ago
That's fascinating. I've been boycotting Nestlé for many years based on documentaries and articles in German-language media. I've just tried to dig up some English articles for the first time, but they are much harder to find. Compare the German-language version of Nestlé criticism on water: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Trinkwasser https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Trinkwasser ...to the English one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Bottled_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Bottled_water There was even a documentary on German public TV recently, pretty cheesy stuff, but starting at 32:49 the journalists are interviewing local politicians in Mexico about a Nestlé selling water from local reserves: http://www.daserste.de/information/ratgeber-service/montagscheck/videos/der-nestl-check-1-100.html http://www.daserste.de/information/ratgeber-service/montagsc... So while I can't translate all this content right now, the tl;dr is that in practise, Nestlé does not seem to believe in water as a human right. Otherwise, why sell water from areas where it is already scarce?
- cynicalkane 10y ago
  > Nestlé does not seem to believe in water as a human right. Otherwise, why sell water from areas where it is already scarce? Selling is often the best way to manage scarce resources, particularly in the presence of a government that cannot be trusted to effectively ration them. Most reasonable people don't object to companies selling food or clothing.
  - cousin_it 10y ago
    If by "manage" you mean "make sure the scarce resource goes to the highest bidder". That's not the same as maximizing overall happiness, because purchasing power ≠ capacity for happiness. In fact it's often the reverse. The person who can get the most happiness from a glass of water might be the least able to afford it.
  - gurkendoktor 10y ago
    Of course people object to companies selling food when it is scarce. Many reasonable people (governments included) are trying to stop the overfishing of the oceans or poaching of endangered animals. Is there an example of a scarce resource that was better off being managed by company than a government?
Kristine1975 10y ago
Why exactly should I believe anything Nestlé's marketing department says?
tim333 10y ago
In the video the CEO says roughly people should have a right to 50-100L of clean water but not the right to fill a swimming pool because there isn't always enough for everyone to do that, which seems not unreasonable.

ck2 10y ago

They do think it is their right to buy publicly owned municipality water and then sell it back to the public. I mean with soda at least they are putting a few cents per gallon into it. There should be a truth-in-advertising law they makes the bottle labels say "filtered publicly owned water $1".

folli 10y ago
In my opinion, the blaming is very one-sided. I mean what kind of municipality sells such rights to a private entity?
- sobkas 10y ago
  The one that believes in trickle down economics!
- nommm-nommm 10y ago
  Aquafina (Pepsi) and Desani (Coke) bottled water are municipal tap water that has been filtered. The source of the water is usually on the label.
- tim333 10y ago
  The UK sold all it's water companies a while back. It sort of worked out but the bills went up.
dagw 10y ago
There should be a truth-in-advertising law Aren't there? I'm sure I've seen the source of the water printed on the water bottles.
- ck2 10y ago
  The location/font-size for the brand and the source need to be switched if it is just water. Speaking of which, so we know some water sources but it is now legal to not mention food sources on many products.

parennoob 10y ago

No one is showing the clip of what he actually said, which is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWkA-uAPXCE#t=2m10s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vWkA-uAPXCE#t=2m10s He does absolutely say that "NGOs bang on about water being declared a human right", at the time when he is relaxed, and even bringing up some Austrian folk song about water. He says absolutely nothing about limits, or just being careful. The page you linked is a great example of corporate damage control. I tend to trust what people say when they are being candid over what they say on a PR page.

piquadrat 10y ago
That video cuts off right before Brabeck states his own view. Thanks for proving my point that his quote is often taken out of context. Here's a longer one https://youtu.be/7iGj4GpAbTM?t=192 https://youtu.be/7iGj4GpAbTM?t=192 He states that he thinks it would be better to give water a price so that we are aware of its value, and take specific measures to provide access to water to people who can't afford it. Not the worst idea ever to fight water waste.
- tehrei 10y ago
  "we are aware of its value" = corporate language for "to make our necks thiiiiiiiiiis fat". How much do Nestlé pay these days for damage control btw?
- Kristine1975 10y ago
  I doubt people in third-world countries are unaware of the value of clean water.
  - piquadrat 10y ago
    Oh come on. He is clearly referring to the problem of water being wasted as a valueless common good, mostly in the western world. And indeed, what is happening for instance in California right now can be seen as tragedy of commons problem (see e.g. http://legal-planet.org/2015/07/13/tragedy-of-the-commons-california-drought-style/ http://legal-planet.org/2015/07/13/tragedy-of-the-commons-ca...) But sure, if you need to confirm the BigCo CEO as incarnation of Satan, go ahead...

gurkendoktor 10y ago

That's fascinating. I've been boycotting Nestlé for many years based on documentaries and articles in German-language media. I've just tried to dig up some English articles for the first time, but they are much harder to find. Compare the German-language version of Nestlé criticism on water: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Trinkwasser https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Trinkwasser ...to the English one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Bottled_water https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé#Bottled_water There was even a documentary on German public TV recently, pretty cheesy stuff, but starting at 32:49 the journalists are interviewing local politicians in Mexico about a Nestlé selling water from local reserves: http://www.daserste.de/information/ratgeber-service/montagscheck/videos/der-nestl-check-1-100.html http://www.daserste.de/information/ratgeber-service/montagsc... So while I can't translate all this content right now, the tl;dr is that in practise, Nestlé does not seem to believe in water as a human right. Otherwise, why sell water from areas where it is already scarce?

cynicalkane 10y ago
> Nestlé does not seem to believe in water as a human right. Otherwise, why sell water from areas where it is already scarce? Selling is often the best way to manage scarce resources, particularly in the presence of a government that cannot be trusted to effectively ration them. Most reasonable people don't object to companies selling food or clothing.
- cousin_it 10y ago
  If by "manage" you mean "make sure the scarce resource goes to the highest bidder". That's not the same as maximizing overall happiness, because purchasing power ≠ capacity for happiness. In fact it's often the reverse. The person who can get the most happiness from a glass of water might be the least able to afford it.
- gurkendoktor 10y ago
  Of course people object to companies selling food when it is scarce. Many reasonable people (governments included) are trying to stop the overfishing of the oceans or poaching of endangered animals. Is there an example of a scarce resource that was better off being managed by company than a government?

Kristine1975 10y ago

Why exactly should I believe anything Nestlé's marketing department says?

tim333 10y ago

In the video the CEO says roughly people should have a right to 50-100L of clean water but not the right to fill a swimming pool because there isn't always enough for everyone to do that, which seems not unreasonable.