Revised Ethos water bottle builds character

Ethos Water was a startup in 2001, with the simple idea of creating bottled water to help children around the world get clean water. Five cents for every bottle of natural spring water sold is donated to humanitarian water programs that by 2010 are expected to reach a goal of $10 million in grant commitments. Purchased by Starbucks in 2005, Ethos has become a staple at the coffee stores as well as in grocery, convenience and drugstores.

A major packaging redesign and the expansion of the filling platform took advantages of many elements of a new, transparent PET bottle with clear, 2-mil BOPP front-and-back pressure-sensitive labels from Spear (www.spearlabel.com). Available in three sizes (500- and 700-mL and 1-L), the stylish cinch-waist bottle (from Ball Corp. [www.ball.com]) presents refined, understated graphic elements printed by a combination screen/flexo process. The front label is printed in 5 colors plus varnish; the back in three plus varnish. Below the san serif Ethos logo is the phrase, “Helping children get clean water,” in black script. A frosted map of the world appears on the back label panel. Both labels can be viewed from either side of the bottle. Besides the label development, Spear also assisted in multiple application trials with Krones (www.krones.com) equipment and the retrofitting of existing labeling equipment to make the packaging ready for market.