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First Lady Michelle Obama Visits “WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back The Streets” Exhibit In Support Of The Drink Up Initiative

WAT-AAH! Curates Taking Back The Streets And Gathers 14 Street Artists Such As Kenny Scharf, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Maya Hayuk And More To Create Art In Honor Of The Drink Up Initiative

NEW YORK (February 20, 2014) —Today, First Lady Michelle Obama visited WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back the Streets exhibit at the New Museum in New York City.

WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back the Streets launches a collaboration between the brand and 14 preeminent artists that joins street art and children’s health in honor of the Partnership for a Healthier America’s (PHA) Drink Up initiative, which encourages Americans to drink more water more often. WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back the Streets uses the visual arts to remind kids and parents that choosing to drink water is one of the best and easiest decisions we can make each and every day.

First Lady Michelle Obama was given a tour of the exhibit by Rose Cameron CEO/Founder of WAT-AAH!; met several of the artists; and spoke with a group of eighth graders from NYC downtown school LREI, who are working with one of the artists to complete a special commemorative Drink Up mural and an art piece expressing Drink Up’s signature tagline: “You are what you drink and when you drink water, you drink up.”

The traveling exhibition displays the works of 14 artists: Kenny Scharf, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Maya Hayuk, Shantell Martin, Trey Speegle, Damien Mitchell, Metro Zu, Lichiban, Tony Concep, VESA, Damon Johnson,MENT and Smurfo. Each artist is showcasing an original piece of artwork inspired by Drink Up’s water drop logo. The exhibition also showcases a special tribute to Kenny Scharf and Keith Haring for their extensive efforts in engaging youth with the arts.

“As a long standing supporter of the Partnership for a Healthier America, I’m excited to be honoring First Lady Michelle Obama’s work to get Americans to drink more water more often,” said Rose Cameron, CEO/Founder of WAT-AAH!. “We are thrilled these preeminent street artists have enthusiastically embraced our art campaign and the task of producing work that advocates for a healthier lifestyle. We look forward to unveiling these truly imaginative works of art that celebrate Drink Up and the PHA.”

WAT-AAH! has selected NYC’s New Museum as the venue for its invitation-only art event and will display the works of the 14 artists. WAT-AAH! will feature the Drink Up inspired artwork on its bottles.

“Drink Up is working to remind people that drinking water is one of the best things you can do every day for your health,” said Drew Nannis, PHA’s chief marketing officer. “This art installation, and subsequent national tour, not only helps us do that, but also recognizes the power that positive marketing can have. We’re incredibly thankful for these street artists’ creative genius and WAT-AAH’s leadership in helping us show everyone that you are what you drink and when you drink water you Drink Up.”

Today’s launch of WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back the Streets is part of a year long exhibition that will visit various museums and art galleries starting in New York City then traveling to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami to use art to deliver the message of healthy hydration. To help this message spread further, WAT-AAH! has hired Berlin Cameron United to work collaboratively with the brand as the strategic and creative agency of WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back the Streets initiative.

In New York City, WAT-AAH!’s Taking Back the Streets will continue with a pop-up exhibit for the general public from February 22 – March 1, 2014, at WallPlay (118 Orchard Street (at Delancey) New York, NY. The exhibit can be viewed seven days a week from 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM.


ABOUT WAT-AAH!:

WAT-AAH! – a line of functional bottled water targeted to kids and teens – was founded in 2008 by Rose Cameron who was alarmed by the fact that today’s generation of kids are predicted to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents largely due to childhood obesity. Cameron, further inspired and challenged by her two sons who identified water to be “boring”, set to create WAT-AAH! with its screaming boy logo coupled with a mission “to be the first brand to make water relevant and cool to kids.” Since its launch 6 years ago, 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. WAT-AAH! continues to reach millions of kids and teens through schools and many other forms of distribution. To learn more, visit www.wat-aah.com

THE PARTNERSHIP FOR A HEALTHIER AMERICA:

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.

ABOUT BERLIN CAMERON UNITED:

Berlin Cameron United (BCU) is the New York-based global hub of United, a creative micro-network within WPP. Berlin Cameron United is a fully integrated creative agency that is famous for effectively accelerating the growth of iconic and challenger brands by building their cultural relevance. To learn more about the United network, visit www.group-united.com.