Vichy France
 "Water, waterly, waterland" | |
| Founder(s) | Jacques France |
|---|---|
| Key people | Philippe "Vichy" Pétain (CEO) |
| Products | Water bottles |
| URL | |
| IPv6 support | No |
| Current status | Bankrupt |
Vichy France, not to be confused with Vichy, France, was the leading producer of bottled water in the world from 1940 to 1944, having to finally halt operations after the bankruptcy of its parent company. It is estimated that Vichy France produced over 35 million bottles over that period of time, which is frankly quite impressive.
Despite its name, it had nothing to do with the country named “France”, instead taking its name from Jacques France, inventor of the water bottle.
History[edit | edit source]
Before bottled water[edit | edit source]
Before the invention of bottled water, water had to be transported using buckets everywhere. This was quite unpractical, even for the time, and led to multiple issues such as:
- Loss of water during transport
- Giving the water a weird taste when the bucket wasn't clean
Another alternative method was to scoop water using hands then transporting it around.
Creation of the water bottle[edit | edit source]
Early attempts at creating a water bottle started in 1901, when Jacques France met with one of his friends, expressing sorrow that he couldn't transport water easily to his dying mother.
This prompted Jacques to try to close a bucket with a plate to contain the water within, which surprisingly worked.
At first, water bottles were carved out of pork intestine, but quickly started being moulded using dried dirt.
Jacques France later created Vichy France (in reference of his partner Philippe "Vichy" Pétain) in 1940. Pétain would later become CEO in 1942, after the first river incident.
Golden years[edit | edit source]
The start of 1943 marked the start of the Vichy Golden Years, which was a period of great wealth for Jacques.
Up until early 1944, millions of bottles were produced per year, shipping to the whole globe.
It also helped that nobody gave a damn and started throwing the bottles in the ocean as a quick and easy way to get rid of them. We have yet to find a better method of recycling them.
Decline[edit | edit source]
Starting from 1944, sales began to decline, mostly due to global thirst going down across all countries.
The fate of Vichy France was sealed when the tap was discovered, guaranteeing free and unlimited water to anyone who could possess one.
It ultimately resulted in the bankruptcy of Vichy. Its trademarks, and former locations, are owned by Nintendo since 2003, which bought the trademark after thinking it was about an early electronic computer.
Criticism[edit | edit source]
During its years of operation, Vichy France came under some criticism, mostly about its use of public waters.
River dying[edit | edit source]
In 1941, to celebrate its first year of business, the executive body (then composed solely of Jacques France) took the decision to dye a local river purple using what could be described as a predecessor to lean. This resulted in a massive incident which costs millions of Swiss Francs and took the lives of seven people.
The next year, in 1942, they tried with yellow dye, which this time resulted in the deaths of six people, a notable improvement.
Collaboration with controversial governments[edit | edit source]
Early on, Vichy France allied itself with the Order of the Nazi to become their official water provider. This was received quite controversially by the public.