The internet is a breeding ground for trends, memes, and viral content. One such phenomenon that has recently captured attention is the "diet water meme." While the term "diet water" might seem straightforward, the meme itself is multifaceted, touching upon various aspects of diet culture, social media influence, and even the composition of bottled water brands like Dasani. To truly understand the "diet water meme origin," we need to delve into its various layers.
The Rise of Viral Trends and Social Media Influence
Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have become powerful tools for shaping perceptions and behaviors, especially among young people. Eating behaviors are established in childhood through a variety of factors such as genetics, personal preferences, observational learning, socioeconomic status, food availability and cultural and social norms. Social media also has a strong influence on the eating behaviours of young people, especially with the popularity of ‘influencers’ who are perceived as role models. Children and adolescents closely watch the behaviours of important peers and adults in their lives, including admired social media influencers, and mimic their behaviours. Companies employ influencer marketing on Instagram to promote their products through these trusted influencers, who reinforce the idea that buying certain products will enable you to change your body and make you healthy, happy and beautiful. Children are also more likely to consume food and drinks produced by brands they have engaged with online, especially through online videos. Social media may influence eating behaviours by creating or reinforcing existing social and cultural norms, with influence from peers and commercial entities. Adolescents are more likely to participate in dieting if they have body dissatisfaction, low self-esteem, low sense of control over their life and mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. These established eating behaviours remain relatively stable over time; therefore, it is crucial to ensure children develop healthy eating behaviours from the outset.
The media that young people consume is saturated with the promotion of ‘diet culture’, which encourages the restriction of food, idealisation of thinness and weight loss and obsession over appearance and weight where the ‘thin ideal’ is portrayed as the key indicator of an individual’s health, beauty and self-worth. The highly profitable diet industry (worth over $66 billion) has a strong influence over social media content on Instagram, directly and surreptitiously encouraging the diet culture and appearance-focused messages through influencers and marketing. Research has found that people who go on a diet with appearance-focused motives are more likely to engage in disordered eating behaviours. Approximately 14 % of these users are under 18 years old. Furthermore, the role of dieting in achieving an idealised perception of health was overemphasised, and the video sample lacked nutrition education from experts. Content that claimed to be ‘healthy eating’ contained inherent guilt-inducing messages through the moralisation of food and stigmatisation of certain body shapes and sizes, which may serve to normalise disordered eating behaviours.
The top hashtags were #diet (21·5 billion views), #whatieatinaday (13·4 billion views), #wieiad (2·0 billion views), #dietitian (1·6 billion views) and #diettips (1·2 billion views). The videos in the selected hashtags had a combined total of 39·7 billion views, proving their importance for investigation.
Humor was the only variable found to significantly impact engagement. The median (and IQR) of likes for videos with humour (n 64) v. not (n 186) are 764 050 (7 500 000) and 482 500 (515 000), respectively. The Mann-Whitney U test showed a significant difference between these two medians (z = 2·54, P = 0·011), and the subsequent cliff’s d showed a small effect size (d = 021; 95 % CI: 0·035, 0·38). Similarly, there was a significant difference between the medians of comments for videos with and without humour, 3252 (7074) and 1694 (4205), respectively (z = 2·06, P = 0·039). The same was found for the number of shares 6685 (26 816) and 1982 (7435), respectively (z = 2·66, P = 0·0076). Disordered eating, provision of advice and the expert status of the creator providing the advice did not show a significant difference between the medians of engagement. Male user-generated content was mostly used in reference to enhance gym performance.
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Over half of the diet-related videos (57 %) portrayed body checking, which is the repeated checking and hyper-fixation of one’s body in the mirror or by using the phone camera. This type of content can be problematic, as it reinforces the notion that food should be used primarily for the manipulation of body weight and appearance. Potentially harmful social comparisons are often made by females viewing ‘fitspiration’ content that often includes body checking and modelling the thin ideal, thereby negatively affecting their body image and self-esteem. Promotion of the ‘thin ideal’ was a prevalent theme in this sample of videos, which can be especially harmful to female adolescents who are more vulnerable to the underlying societal pressures for appearance-focused diets.
The Dasani Water Controversy: A Specific Instance
The "diet water meme" often intersects with discussions and criticisms surrounding specific bottled water brands, particularly Dasani. Dasani, a product of The Coca-Cola Company, has faced scrutiny regarding its composition, taste, and potential health implications.
Composition and Ingredients
Beyond the clear appearance of water, Dasani contains a list of ingredients, raising concerns among health-conscious consumers. Apart from purified tap water, the ingredients include magnesium sulfate, potassium chloride, and salt. These additives according to the company are introduced to enhance taste and provide electrolytes.
Dasani starts with good ol' tap water, a fact that might leave you questioning the need to pay for bottled water. Of course this tap water is run through a reverse osmosis filter but still the original water is not sourced from some natural spring. Magnesium sulfate, also known as Epsom salts or bath salts, makes its way into Dasani. Beyond being a drying agent, this ingredient has a darker side, potentially leaving you with a peculiar dry mouth after a sip. And hold on, magnesium sulfate has a history in medicine, including delaying labor and causing birth defects at high doses. Potassium chloride, commonly used in fertilizers, takes the stage as Dasani's third questionable ingredient. Not only does it have a bitter taste, but it's also known for stopping hearts - both in lethal injections and, unsettlingly, in late trimester abortions. The laundry list of side effects includes everything from bowel lesions to muscle weakness. Dasani throws in some salt for good measure. While salt gets a bad rap, it's the unspecified amounts of sodium in processed foods that often cause concern.
Microplastics Contamination
In a recent study published in Frontiers of Chemistry, the authors scrutinized several well-known bottled water brands, such as Aquafina, Dasani, Evian, Nestle Pure, San Pellegrino, and Gerolsteiner from the United States. What they unearthed was disconcerting - a prevalent contamination of microplastics. The sampled bottled water revealed a variety of plastic types, including polypropylene, utilized for bottle caps, and polyethylene terephthalate, the standard plastic for the bottles themselves. This strongly suggests that the contamination may be originating from the bottling and packaging processes, raising concerns about the actual purity of the water consumers are purchasing.
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Taste and Consumer Perception
In 2019, consumers took to YouTube and other social media platforms to voice their dissatisfaction with the taste of Dasani, Coca-Cola's water bottle brand. Notably, YouTuber Shane Dawson delved into the controversy, exploring claims that the water tasted odd, emitted a peculiar "fizz" sound upon opening, and contained additives like salt, sparking suspicions of something amiss with the product. Shane Dawson, known for his conspiracy theory investigations, added fuel to the discourse in a video where he sampled Dasani, expressing surprise at the bottle's soda-like "fizz" sound. His skepticism about this fizzy phenomenon led him to question the water's composition, suggesting there might be more to it than meets the eye. The disdain for Dasani extends to X, where a community of Dasani haters has emerged, complete with influencer disapprovals and memes mocking the product's manufacturing process. This antipathy towards Dasani has been a recurring theme in meme culture, especially on Reddit, where there's even a private Subreddit for fans to discuss the drink without facing criticism. Even during the COVID-19-induced panic buying, Dasani found itself left on the shelves as consumers opted for other water brands. This reluctance to purchase Dasani during the pandemic became a point of discussion on social media platforms, further contributing to its notoriety. Even Martin Riese, renowned as the world's leading "water sommelier," expressed his aversion to Dasani, labeling it as highly processed and designed-by-focus-group factory water.
Reverse Osmosis (RO) Water and Health Concerns
The impact water run through a reverse osmosis filter on kidney health is a common concern. While water is essential for kidney function, the absence of minerals in RO water might affect the organ's ability to maintain electrolyte balance. Some consumers report experiencing stomach discomfort after consuming RO water. While individual sensitivities vary, the lack of minerals in RO water might influence stomach acidity and digestion. Adequate hydration is crucial, but the choice of water may need to be considered for those with sensitive stomachs. The role of water in heart health is essential, but the impact of RO water on the cardiovascular system remains a debated topic. The absence of minerals could potentially affect blood pressure regulation, emphasizing the need for a balanced intake of both mineral-rich and purified water.
Connecting the Dots: From Diet Culture to Dasani Bashing
The "diet water meme" is not solely about disliking a particular brand of bottled water. It's a manifestation of broader anxieties and critical perspectives surrounding diet culture, the promotion of unrealistic body ideals, and the perceived manipulation by corporations in the food and beverage industry.
Humor as a Coping Mechanism
Humor plays a significant role in the spread and virality of the "diet water meme." The use of humour was significantly associated with engagement. The significant difference between the medians of comments for videos with and without humour. The same was found for the number of shares.
Body Image and Social Comparison
Over half of the diet-related videos portrayed body checking, which is the repeated checking and hyper-fixation of one’s body in the mirror or by using the phone camera. This type of content can be problematic, as it reinforces the notion that food should be used primarily for the manipulation of body weight and appearance. Potentially harmful social comparisons are often made by females viewing ‘fitspiration’ content that often includes body checking and modelling the thin ideal, thereby negatively affecting their body image and self-esteem. Promotion of the ‘thin ideal’ was a prevalent theme in this sample of videos, which can be especially harmful to female adolescents who are more vulnerable to the underlying societal pressures for appearance-focused diets.
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