129 of bottles sold in supermarkets around the world, and it represents also the reason why FreeWater is a rather uncomfortable startup for its competitors. «The reason why nothing like this has ever been done before – Prewitt confirms – is that offering free water would not be in the interest of big brands like Nestlé and so on. The interest of the large production companies is rather to offer bottles of water at the cost of two or even three dollars, that is, two or even three thousand times the price of tap water. And drought and climate change are likely to drive up prices, making a primary commodity like water increasingly expensive. A basic necessity for which, in the future, perhaps wars will be fought». Here are the premises that gave birth to the FreeWater enterprise. Offering advertising for one dollar a bottle, a price that rises for investors up to a maximum of one euro and sixty cents for aluminium models, with ten cents destined to build wells or water systems in developing countries. But how do they attract the advertising then found on the wrappers of the bottles? «Usually people notice us through social media, behind the project there is a lot of work coming from the marketing sector», Prewitt reveals, also explaining: «Once reached our website, those interested in advertising through FreeWater fill out a short questionnaire in order to be called back. We try to understand together what the customer's objectives are and, based on the budget, we think about the amount and type of best bottles to achieve those objectives. We can deliver them to the customer, take them to shops, restaurants, cafes or distribute them by ourselves through guerrilla marketing campaigns on the busiest streets of Austin. That is only phase one of our startup. We will soon be launching our phase two: vending machines. Through an app on the phone anyone, scanning a �R code, will be able to pick up from our vending machines up to three bottles of water a day for free, after having seen three short video commercials». And the videos of incredulous people receiving, on the streets of the United States, cartons and aluminium bottles of free spring water have gone viral on Instagram and TikTok. One of these was shot by Albert Prewitt himself, totalling nine million views: «Yes, it was just a girl who was jogging and to whom I handed out a bottle in order to cool off. At that point she stopped and started wondering why we were offering free water. We often publish videos with people's astonished reactions. You know, when someone offers you something on the street, you tend to believe there is always a trick somewhere, but in the case of FreeWater the trick is nothing more than a different business model. Thus our social channels have dramatically grown – now we have almost 380,000 followers on TikTok – and this helps us a lot. When we give away a bottle explaining that it is the advertising on the packaging paying for it and that, by drinking it, they help us donate ten cents to charity, they simply stand open-mouthed». According to Cliffords, Prewitt and the FreeWater startuppers, the calculation is simple: «Worldwide, eight hundred million people do not have access to drinking water, and forty million people a year die from this. We want to help build new water systems in these depressed areas. If only 10% of Americans, about thirty-three million people, would drink our free water, we would be able to end the global water crisis in a few years. In order to do this you need eight to ten billion dollars, but if thirtythree million people in America would drink a bottle of our water even once a year, we would be able to donate three and a half billion dollars to charity». It sounds like a political speech and basically, by choosing which advertisements have to be printed on its bottles, FreeWater constantly makes a choice of field. «In Austin – Prewitt warns – there is a large chunk of homeless population. In the past we have organized some events in collaboration with the Salvation Army, having religious and charitable organizations as clients whose target, if we can call it like that, is precisely represented by people in need». It is therefore obvious that even the advertising revenue can turn into a matter of opportunity for those who want to act ethically, and the fact of being a startup does not change the approach. «We undoubtedly choose companies with a crystalline reputation» confirms Cliffords' right-hand man, who points out: «We have never advertised messages with dubious morals or that could pose risks to people's health, such as messages coming from the arms industry, and we have also taken into account the issue of political advertising. We will never convey blatant lies, or even defamatory, false or slanderous messages». Aside from politicians, major companies such as Hewlett Packard, JP Morgan and the Hilton hotel chain have already contacted FreeWater. And overseas? «That’s the beauty of social media – Prewitt lights up – we have also been contacted by companies from Asia and Europe. We are still a newborn startup, but we do have big plans, and not just for America. For example, Air France recently contacted us about the launch of a new air link to the United States. But from Italy, the first phone call we received is indeed yours».
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