NEW YORK — WAT-AAH!, a bottled water brand for kids and teens, announces the continuation of its groundbreaking initiative, WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back the Streets (TBTS). Its second exhibit will be held in Washington D.C. The mission of this initiative is to make water cool to kids and teens and support the Partnership for a Healthier America’s (PHA) Drink Up initiative, which encourages everyone to drink more water more often. In addition to the fourteen renowned street artists who participated in the New York City event, WAT-AAH! has recruited ten new artists to the D.C. event including Lady AIKO, “HAZE” and Lina Viktor who will headline a new collection of original works and specially designed WAT-AAH! bottle labels, to be debuted in Washington D.C. at the Long View Gallery on April 23, 2014.
“It is so inspiring to hear the reactions of the kids to this campaign,” said Rose Cameron CEO/Founder of WAT-AAH! “One kid told me, ‘this is the kind of stuff kids want to see. Looking at all this cool art makes it easier for me to actually listen to this message to drink more water.’ This is what motivates the brand to keep the initiative going and spread its message to even more children.”
WAT-AAH!’s is an original member of the Drink Up initiative and the Taking Back the Streets exhibit is another effective way to reach all American families,” said PHA CEO Lawrence Soler. “These efforts help us reinforce that you are what you drink and when you drink water, you Drink Up.”
WAT-AAH!’s TBTS launched on February 20 that NYC’s New Museum, drawing a special visit from PHA’s honorary chair, the First Lady Michelle Obama. Students from various NYC schools visited the exhibit and had an opportunity to meet its featured artists including: Shepard Fairey, Kenny Scharf, Swoon, Maya Hayuk, Trey Speegle, Metro Zu, Lichiban, Tony Concep and more. For the second stop on its nationwide tour, newly-announced TBTS visual artists include: Lady AIKO, “HAZE”, Technodrome, Christophe Roberts, Lina Viktor, joined by D.C.-based artists Aniekan Udofia and Che Love, among others.
“It’s an honor to be chosen as one of the marquis artists for the current ‘Drink Up’ effort and I’m excited to be making contributions as both a graphic designer and artist. Hopefully the work I have created will impact people in a positive way, especially children, helping to increase public consciousness in the direction of making healthier choices,” said Eric Haze.
WAT-AAH! has also joined together with participating artist, Tony Concep, to work in partnership with a local D.C. area school on a special art workshop and tour of the exhibit. Concep will give students a first hand look into his creative process as well as unveiling a special mural he will work on in collaboration with the kids. The finished piece will be donated to the school as a special gift from WAT-AAH! to promote healthy hydration. The series is part of a yearlong tour, which will continue to make stops at locations such as: New Jersey, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Texas, New Orleans and Miami. To find out more, follow @wataah on Twitter and join the conversation under the dedicated hashtag #TBTSH2O.
ABOUT WAT-AAH!
WAT-AAH!, a brand of water targeted to kids and teens, is the originator and creative director of the Taking Back the Streets initiative. Since 2008, WAT-AAH!’s mission has been to make water undeniably cool and desirable among kids and teens. With its iconic logo design, a boy screaming “Drink WAT-AAH!,” the brand has successfully competed against sodas and sugary drinks for kids’ attention and is leading them to embrace a healthy and active lifestyle. WAT-AAH! has been successful in the marketplace and has been identified as “one of the fastest growing brands” in the beverage industry, ranking among the top 10 in its category and many kids have dubbed it as “the coolest water ever.” WAT-AAH! continues to reach millions of kids and teens through schools and many other forms of distribution. To learn more, visit wat-aah.com.
ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR A HEALTHIER AMERICA (PHA)
The Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) is devoted to working with the private sector to ensure the health of our nation’s youth by solving the childhood obesity crisis. In 2010, PHA was created in conjunction with – but independent from – First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! effort. PHA is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that is led by some of the nation’s most respected health and childhood obesity experts. PHA brings together public, private and nonprofit leaders to broker meaningful commitments and develop strategies to end childhood obesity. Most important, PHA ensures that commitments made are commitments kept by working with unbiased, third parties to monitor and publicly report on the progress our partners are making. For more information about PHA, please visit www.aHealthierAmerica.org and follow PHA on Twitter @PHAnews.