Growing up in a traditional Roman Catholic family instills a few things in you about the sacred and the profane that are hard to shake. “Never enter a church with your shoulders uncovered” is one. “Holy Water is not for drinking” would be another biggie. You just don’t do that!
But don’t tell that to the makers of “Spiritual Water” and the Wayne Enterprises-based “Holy Drinking Water” companies.
Lisa Miller of Newsweek reports in her article, “Bless This Bottled Water… Forget Evian or Vitaminwater. The latest beverage trend: ‘Holy Water.’”:
Inspired, perhaps, by vitamin and energy waters, a number of new companies have begun making more explicit claims: their water doesn’t just promote good health, it actually makes you good. Holy Drinking Water, produced by a California-based company called Wayne Enterprises, is blessed in the warehouse by an Anglican or Roman Catholic priest (after a thorough background check). Like a crucifix or a rosary, a bottle of Holy Drinking Water is a daily reminder to be kind to others, says Brian Germann, Wayne’s CEO….The most recent entry in this niche is Spiritual Water. It’s purified municipal water, sold with 10 different Christian labels. The Virgin Mary bottle, for example, has the Hail Mary prayer printed on the back in English and Spanish. Spiritual Water helps people to “stay focused, believe in yourself and believe in God,” says Elicko Taieb, the Florida-based company’s founder who was formerly in the pest-control business. All three companies give a portion of their profits to charity.
For once I think I will fall on the side of the nay-sayers here. While there’s nothing more wonderful about good Catholic kitsch, there’s nothing kitschy-feeling to me about drinking Holy Water! That’s one of those things my mother and grandmother would have found repulsive and simply wrong. They would have given me stern reprimands should I dared suggest the idea as a child.
I can’t help it. It feels profane. Read Miller’s full story here.
posted December 11, 2007 at 3:03 pm
There is a sucker born every minute.
And where else but Florida would an “entrepreneur” (rhymes with “manure”) and former exterminator come up with such a delightfully tacky packaging/product. We here in Florida are proud of our local businessfolks! So do you think this will sell well in Ave Maria, the new town and relocated University here in the sw corner of our peninsula?