As editor of Jennifer Aniston, of all people, has stepped into the growing environmental debate about plastic water bottles by endorsing Glaceau Smartwater.
Celebrity blog radaronline commented: "With the green movement taking off as the greatest trend since the 'Rachel' haircut, former 'Friends' star Jennifer Aniston is finding herself on the wrong side of the hour's most polarizing topic: drinking bottled water. Aniston recently jumped on board as spokeswoman for Smartwater, booking the back page ad in July's W and thereby siding against a growing number of increasingly important environmentalists.
"Victoria Kaplan of Food and Water Watch is forwarding a movement called "quitting the bottle," citing such early adopters as celebrity chef Alice Waters and others who, because of the impact plastic containers have on the environment, are starting to serve from the tap instead of the bottle in their restaurants. "Consumers are waking up to the myth of bottled water, despite celebrity endorsement," says Kaplan. With 86 percent of bottles being tossed rather than recycled, Aniston is making a political statement, whether she knows it or not, Kaplan says."
(Radar later softened its criticism, pointing out that Aniston saves water by taking 3-minute showers. Important to know!)
It's all silly, of course. But the fact that anti-plastics rhetoric is reported in the celebrity gossip headlines has an impact on consumer attitudes.