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Taking advantage of the fact
that air quality around the world is getting worse by the day, several
enterprising individuals are selling fresh air in cans and making big
bucks too!
In the 2012 animated movie
The Lorax, based on Dr Suess' children's book of the same name, the
primary antagonist, Aloysius O'Hare, is the founder of O'Hare Air, a
company that sells bottled fresh air to the people of Thneedville, the
fictitious
town where the film is set. Meant as a sarcastic reference to the huge
demand for bottled water, the film showed a society where fresh air was
so scarce that people were willing to pay for it. If you thought that
this vision is a part of some dystopian future, here's a reality check
for you. As many as three different
entrepreneurs have successfully sold `clean air' to the public in the
last two years alone. The concept of air as a saleable commodity has
gained prominence in the last few years, as people around the globe have
shown their willingness to spend money to buy air for reasons ranging
from health to nostalgia.
STUDENT BECOMES $20,000 RICHER BY SELLING AIR
In the movie Spaceballs, Mel Brooks opens a can of clean Perri-Air and takes a whiff of it. French student Antoine Deblay got the inspiration for his air business from there. In 2013, Deblay started selling cans of air, labelled Air de Montcuq, from his hometown for US$7.50 (`500) each. The 22-year-old was able to earn $20,000 (`13,24,200) in just six months.FRESH MOUNTAIN AIR FROM CANADA FOR SALE IN CHINA
The trend of fresh glacial and mountain water in bottles began a few years ago. But already, this fad seems to be passé, as bottled mountain air is now in. With China's pollution levels continuing to rise, a Canadian company has decided to make the most of a bad situation by selling bottles of fresh mountain air. Vitality Air is offering fresh air from two of Canada's lakes, with a bottle of `premium oxygen' costing between US$15.85 and 18.50 (`1,050 and `1,230). The company, which started operations in October, claims to have sold out its first batch of 500 bottles in just two months.CHINESE BUSINESSMAN SELLS EIGHT MILLION CANS OF FRESH AIR IN TEN DAYS
The popularity of Canada's Vitality Air is nothing compared to the monumental success achieved by Chen Guangbiao, a Chinese multimillionaire, who sold eight million cans of fresh air in China in a ten-day period in February 2013. Each can costs roughly 80 cents (`53), and purportedly contained air from pristine areas of China like Xinjiang and Taiwan. As smog levels in Beijing and nearby areas rose to alarming levels, the sales of the cans soared too.PAY EXTRA TO BREATHE CLEAN AIR AT A CHINESE RESTAURANT
It's not just canned or bottled air which is being sold in China. Earlier this month, a restaurant in China's Zhangjiagang city started adding a `clean air' surcharge of one yuan per customer (`10) to the food bills, claiming that they were offering customers pollution-free air because of the air filtration machines they had installed. Although city officials ordered the restaurant to remove the additional charges, social media users in China supported the cess, saying that they would happily pay the amount to be able to breathe easy.HOLIDAY MEMOIRS: AIR FROM YOUR FAVOURITE CITY
We've all gone for that perfect holiday, where even the thought of returning seemed dreadful. Now, thanks to Czech artist Kirill Rudenko, you can take a whiff of the air from some of the most iconic cities around the world. Rudenko is selling cans of air gathered from various locations. Each can is priced at US$9.99 (`660) and lists the formula for the air contained inside, usually an amalgamation of air from major landmarks of a city in varying proportions. The cans contain advisories specific to that city. For example, the Las Vegas can says, `Strong scent of money and desperation inside', while the Sydney can tells you to turn the can upside down for a better effect.
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