With the rise of the Internet and the advent of the paperless era, the world's print media industry is facing the challenge of marginalization. In 2014, Mainichi Shimbun in Japan found that newspapers became more and more unpopular among the young, while the bottled mineral water was quite the opposite. In order to save the declining print media market as well as raising young people's attention to current affairs, News Bottle, a bottled water with newspaper as the packaging, was born.
随着互联网兴起和无纸化时代的到来，全世界的纸媒业都在面临着边缘化的挑战。2014年，日本《每日新闻》发现，每天买报纸的年轻人越来越少，但是买瓶装矿泉水的年轻人却越来越多。为了拯救日渐衰落的纸媒市场并提高当代年轻人对时事的关注度，以报纸作为外包装的瓶装水——“news bottle”应运而生。
In order to ensure the readability and update of the news, the Mainichi News launched a total of 31 packaging within a month and deliberately lowered the price of bottled water, allowing the campaign to spread more widely. In addition, consumers can also scan the QR code on the bottle to get the latest news on the mobile phone.
为了保证新闻的可读性与更新，日本每日新闻在一个月的时间内共推出了31款包装；并特意降低了瓶装水的定价，使得活动的传播范围更加广泛。除此之外，消费者还可通过扫描瓶身上的二维码，在手机端读到最新的新闻。
How did this idea come about? First of all, the widespread popularity of bottled water means a huge consumer market, ensuring that the “News Bottle Campaign” can quickly come to the attention of the public. Secondly, as a daily necessity, bottled water enhances the readability of the news. No need to buy or carry a newspaper, people can read the news on the package and keep abreast of current events while drinking water, without the limit of time and place. In some cases, “News Bottle” can even be an effective “social icebreaker”，starting the friendship by small talks on the topic provided.
这个创意是如何产生的呢？首先，瓶装水的广泛普及性意味着巨大的消费市场，确保了“news bottle”的活动能够快速进入大众视野。其次，瓶装水作为一种日常必需品增强了新闻的可读性。在任何地方、任何时候，不需要特地购买或携带一份报纸，想喝水的时候顺便看一眼包装上的新闻，就能掌握当下热点时事。某些情况下，它甚至能成为社交场合中的“破冰神器”。
At a time when mobile reading is so popular, people may wonder whether such an idea is really necessary. The answer is: Yes! Admittedly, what a bottle of water can convey is quite limited, but its close connection with the daily life of the masses gives it unlimited potential of arousing public’s attention to current events and reading habits. Making reading as common and important as drinking water, "News Bottle" is undoubtedly a pioneer in guiding "national reading".
在手机阅读如此普及的今天，人们或许会质疑，这样的创意真的有必要吗？答案是：Yes! 诚然，“一瓶水”能传达的信息是十分有限，但它与大众日常生活的紧密联系使其拥有唤醒人关注时事和阅读习惯的无限潜力。让阅读变得像喝水一样平常且重要，“news bottle”无疑是引导“全民阅读”的先锋。
Secondly, although mobile phone reading solves the problem of insufficient portability of print media, it also loses the collective memory created by print media. In the past, people who read People's Daily or Southern Weekend could easily find countless friends in the crowd with a newspaper in their hand. But in the Internet era, the access to information has become more and more personal with more diversified choices. No one can know what you are reading by simply observing your mobile phone. Through direct display of information, "News Bottle" externalizes this personal information acquisition process and strives to create the connecting point of collective memory in a society where individuals tend to be self-closed.
其次，手机阅读虽然解决了纸媒便携性不足的问题，却也丢失了纸媒曾创造的“集体记忆”。从前的人们读人民日报、读南方周末，手上拿一份报纸就能在人群中找到无数同好。但在选择更多元化的互联网时代，信息的获取也变得越来越私人化——没人能通过观察你的手机去了解你读了什么。通过信息的直接展示，“News bottle”外化了这个私人化的信息获取过程，在个体趋于自我封闭的社会中努力创造集体记忆的连接点。
Inspired by the "News Bottle", Japan's Mainichi News launched the "donation bottle" in the same way. They divided the charity projects into several different themes, such as "Philippine Typhoon Relief Fund", "Mount Fuji Environmental Protection Fund" and "Japan Earthquake Reconstruction Fund". Consumers can choose the projects they are interested in and buy mineral water of certain package. The profits will be donated to the corresponding charity organizations.
受到“news bottle”的启发，日本每日新闻又利用同样的方式推出了“募捐瓶”。他们将慈善项目分为几个不同的主题，如“菲律宾台风受灾救济基金”、“富士山环境保护基金”、“日本大地震灾后重建基金”，消费者可以选择自己感兴趣的项目，购买特定包装的矿泉水，其利润将被捐给相应的慈善组织。
Similar "tricks" are also common in China. In 2018, Nongfu Spring and the Palace Museum Cultural Service Center jointly launched the "Bottle of the Palace Museum", taking the portraits of Emperor Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong and their concubines in the palace as the theme. "Bottle of the Palace Museum" aims at giving people a sense of intimacy and resonance from modern interpretations of ancient paintings, as well as inheriting and promoting Chinese culture.
类似的“花样”在我国也不少。2018年，农夫山泉与故宫文化服务中心联名推出“故宫瓶”，以康雍乾三代及其后宫嫔妃的人物画像为主题，旨在让人们从古画的现代演绎中获得亲切感与共鸣，传承和推广中国文化。
Whether it's marketing gimmicks or genuine feeling, creativity and culture give a bottle of ordinary water far more value than it deserves. Over the past two decades, efforts have been made to virtualize physical objects, such as mobile payments for e-books. But now people are trying to make the untouchable concrete. “News Bottle” is not a throwback to the era of mobile reading. On the contrary, people are "putting on weight" in cultural life through this activity.
营销噱头也好，真情实感也罢，创意和文化给一瓶普普通通的水带来了远超自身的价值。过去二十年，人们努力将“实物”虚拟化——如电子书、移动支付等；而今又尝试将“不可触碰”的东西变得具体实在。“新闻瓶”并非是移动阅读时代的倒退，相反，人们正通过这一活动给文化生活“增重”。
Information source: 360 Personal library，Tencent
Author: Yao Jialing
Translator: Yao Jialing
Time: 2020-9-4
688 words
