Residents of Citrus County, Florida did it right: They questioned a process BEFORE it was put in place. In this case, the process was moving the county’s public utilities toward privatization. Thanks to the Citrus County Council — a grass-roots consortium of civic clubs, homeowners associations and environmental groups — residents were well informed about what privatization would mean for Citrus County, and they told their commissioners to reject privatizing their public utilities.

The International Bottled Water Association’s (IBWA) consumer has proudly released a video called Bottled Water: Show Your Support. Something tells me they are getting nervous.

The video features a teenager listing the industry’s talking points, trying to drive home the point that bottled water is about choice. “Bottled water matters. You love to drink it any time because it’s refreshing, day or night, at home or on the go. For you, bottled water is your packaged beverage of choice.” It’s an obvious attempt to appeal to the independent thinking of a teenager by using over-simplified corporate speak to show that the freedom of choice behind a purchase of bottled water is somehow cool.

Occasionally, someone makes a PR gaffe so blatantly off-target that it would be downright funny—if it weren’t such an important consumer right-to- know issue.

AquaBounty Technologies—a name that conjures up images of fresh, wholesome seafood swimming straight to your plate—is the company behind AquaAdvantage genetically modified salmon, coming soon to an FDA approval process near you. We call them FrankenFish or Arnold Schwarzensalmon. Included in their very own website is a statement that breaks one of the most important rules of sensible business practice: make the customer feel important.

Straight from their online press room: “MYTH: These fish should be labeled. Consumers have a right to know what’s in their food.”