Eska – Not What Your Nation Can Do For You

So… there was this Eska Water ad blitz in Canada last summer. Who would know, right? True enough. Anyway – I convinced a couple people to stop stocking the stuff. Uninteresting story.

But ^^^that absurd, insulting imagery distracted from the central plot point of the whole campaign – which was that the ‘purity’ of this sacred native water was being threatened by Joe Whiteguy (“Julien”, see here) mixing his orange juice into it. Okay now – WHO CUTS THEIR OJ WITH WATER?! Old ladies?! I’ve never heard of orange juice being so strong that it was necessary to water it down. Comically weak premise.

I bring this up not only because I like to remind companies that stupid ad campaigns are rarely (and should not be) forgotten, but because of this brutal irony: MANY native regions in Canada have unsafe drinking water. It’s a perennial problem. The reason? Perhaps because Eska Co. has lured away all the ancient Eskan warrior spirit-guards to work these regrettable TV commercials.

Informative interview with activist/commentator Clifton Nicholas (of Kanesatake) on this topic here: