Tappening is run by a couple of guys who do not like bottled water. The liquid is fine, but they worry about those small transparent bottles. First, the air gets polluted when they are fabricated and then, after they have been emptied and tossed in the trash, the plastic does not quickly break down and reenter the ecosystem. The Tappening people also notice that bottled-water advertising can be deceitful. The labels and ad campaigns are known to feature mountain streams in forest paradises, breeding the idea that the water is pumped from pristine natural sources when the truth is a lot of it comes from the tap, usually with somefiltering applied.

Faced with the distasteful situationpolluting water bottles and deceitful advertisingthe Tappening crew could have put together some of their own ads revealing the true source of common bottled waters and the destiny of the containers, but they opted to mount a more aggressive campaign. One effort is a print ad with a crying polar bear drawn at the center, sitting on a melting arctic glacier. Under the title "Bottled Water," the text says, "98% melted ice caps, 2% polar bear tears." At the bottom, in small print, a message reads, "If bottled water companies can lie, we can too."

In broad strokes, there are four types of deceitful advertising:

those that make false claims,

conceal facts,

make ambiguous claims and,

engage in puffery.

The Tappening ad makes two apparently false claims. What are they, and what makes them seem false?