FreeWater, the world’s first free beverage company, with the help of RAIN Bottling Company and Philadelphia-based nonprofits Caring for Friends and Mission Philadelphia, to bring 40,000 bottles of water to people in need throughout Philadelphia
(AUSTIN, TEXAS – March 31, 2023; source: Juice Consulting) — Austin-based startup FreeWater to bring 40,000 bottles of water to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania this weekend, distributing the water for free to the underserved communities in town. This mission is in response to a mass shortage of water bottles caused by panic buying after a chemical spill had leaked into the nearby river system. With this shortage, many in need of water for themselves and their families were unable to access bottled water. Seeing this in the news, FreeWater has decided to do something about the issue, utilizing pallets of water from their own reserve to send to Philadelphia. Additionally, FreeWater staff will be in Philadelphia this weekend (April 1-2) to help distribute the water throughout different areas of the city, and will be working with local nonprofits Caring for Friends and Mission Philadelphia to help store, allocate and distribute the water. With the help of RAIN Bottling Company, 40,000 bottles will be provided for Philadelphians who come from food insecure families, as well as the homeless. For more info on FreeWater, see www.freewater.io.
“In the United States, it appears that calamities are becoming an all-too-frequent occurrence, leaving countless individuals struggling to access clean water,” said FreeWater Founder Josh Cliffords. “Our team is dedicated to addressing this pressing issue by expanding our project to include an emergency water supply division, ensuring that potable water is readily available when it matters most.”
With this incident in Philadelphia, and with similar incidents across the United States in the past few years, it became evident to the FreeWater team that there may be a constant situation with municipalities dealing with a national disaster or other type of urgent crisis having access to clean water. To be better prepared for future disasters, FreeWater will be establishing an ongoing coalition to create an inventory of water to be able to respond immediately to water crises. More information to be announced.
FreeWater offers an innovative, eco-friendly, BPA-free product as a new type of advertising medium with 10 cents from each beverage helping build water wells for people in need; the company has already financed two water projects in Kenya by distributing free spring water in the USA. Their mission is to put the highest quality products in consumers’ hands for a negative price since the water is free and ten cents per beverage is donated to charity.
The groundbreaking startup has quickly become an international phenomenon through their social accounts with 200,000,000 organic impressions. Their TikTok account with 869,000 followers and Instagram account with 122,000 followers have played a key role in its massive influence. TikTok in particular became a viral success, as their engaging video content attracted huge interest worldwide. Their top performing video alone was viewed by 34,000,000 people and liked by 5 million users. The video even became a meme and inspired thousands of TikTok users to share their own videos. To see a video about this campaign, click here.
“If you take our social media alone, a brand advertiser would have to spend a budget between 10+ million USD to gain such an exposure,” said Cliffords. “But again, we did not spend a penny, it’s all organic.”
FreeWater also pushes to make not only water but other products “free” across the globe.
“Free vending machines will be a key role of FreeWater’s future distribution model,” said Cliffords. “Our mobile app will limit users to 1-3 free drinks/snacks per person daily,” With the right location, free vending machines will be emptied daily and each location will donate between $10,000 to $36,000 to charity annually.”
