Evian Purifies Through Detox

A return to purity is as simple as a drink of water—provided the water you're sipping is naturally filtered from the French Alps over the course of 15 years. That's the message reflected in the pristine website for Evian's new "Detox" campaign, an online experience designed by interactive agency Nurun to invoke a feeling of calmness and serenity with every click of the mouse. "Although an actual physical place, there still is something grand and mythical about the French Alps," says SVP of client services Parizad Motiwala. "This pure, pristine, almost magical place is the world of EvianDetox.com, and every page of our site reflects this with breathtaking views uncluttered by the usual headlines and body copy—we've 'detoxified' the common brand site under a blanket of clean snow."

Against a snowy mountain backdrop, visitors can learn all about the geology of the French Alps, the history of the town of Evian and the intricacies of the bottling process through a series of educational videos, as well as discover little interactive gems hidden throughout the site. "We were aiming for a simple, visual experience, and that's why it was important for us to tell the story of Evian water through video," says Motiwala. "And just as 'play' is the opposite of 'work,' the site needed to be about playful exploration. No big buttons marked 'History or 'About Evian'—users explore the landscape to discover the content. And 'play' is just what they get to do in our Flash 'toys' section, where instead of actual games (we didn't want scores and time limits, winning or losing), users get to doodle, mix their own music, ski and play in the snow, all as a sort of detoxification of the mind."

In addition, the Evian campaign goes beyond the "Detox" website itself to encompass a partnership with Gawker.com. Frequent visitors to the New York-based media news and gossip blog can "detox" their existing RSS feeds, removing unwanted advertising and information through Evian's "detox feature."