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Talk of the bay

Citrus commission to test if new ads hold water

By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE
Published January 24, 2005

In the battle for consumers' cash, Florida citrus leaders are more than ready to take on soda, sports drinks and anything pretending to be pure citrus.

Taking on the source of life, however, gives pause.

The Florida Citrus Commission cautiously allowed its staff to move forward Wednesday with research to see if an edgy advertising campaign that takes on bottled water should be moved to the television airwaves.

Not everyone is thrilled with the idea.

"Water is like the holy grail," Commissioner Harry Falk said. "It's impossible to disparage water. . . . Water is the basis of human life. To me, water is one of those things that's untouchable."

But water also is the competition and increasingly replacing juice as the beverage of choice at the breakfast table, long the domain of OJ, research shows.

And it's feared that new flavored waters also will steal customers away from pure Florida citrus juices, which have been positioned as the healthy alternative to many other beverages.

The commission's advertising agency is moving forward with a focus group that will see how consumers might react to ads that gently remind that water, while it hydrates, provides no nutrition.

"It is not our interest to disparage water," said Dan Gunter, executive director of the citrus agency. "We're trying to find out how far we can go with consumers."

Richard Kinney, who heads the Florida Citrus Packers Association, said growers want the commission to get more aggressive.

"They want something bold," Kinney said.

[Last modified January 21, 2005, 20:04:05]