Evian Tests the Waters in Second Life

For most of this year, Evian Natural Spring Water has been using the advertising tagline, “The most important body of water is your own,” to stress the product’s wellness benefits.

Now customers can give their virtual bodies a taste of that wellness too, by buying a drink of Evian for their graphic stand-ins in the virtual world of Second Life.

In its first foray into the virtual realm, Evian is placing vending machines in various high-traffic locations around the 3-D world. Residents who pass one of these machines will see a pop-up message offering them the chance to give their skin a “second life” with a bottle of Evian.

Residents who accept the offer will receive a virtual bottle of Evian and will then choose from a variety of new natural skins for their avatar, the graphic character that represents them. Accepting the Evian will transform that virtual character’s appearance, not just switching to the newly chosen skin, but by giving it a better texture and even better lighting.

“With build-it-yourself virtual worlds, fantasylands and video games increasing in popularity, we felt that Second Life was a fitting platform for Evian to make its virtual debut,” said Jeff Caswell, vice president of marketing for Evian North America, in a statement. “Everyone should be able to experience the many benefits that Evian has to offer—whether they’re in the real world or the virtual world.”