Tale of an ailing pail

The Commission’s ‘neurotic bucket’.

The European Commission’s latest tool to tackle what it calls “the dangers of unsustainable patterns of consumption” is a “neurotic bucket” called Water Maniac Walter.

The animated blue bucket appears in a video clip from the Commission’s campaign Generation Awake aimed at getting people to think about their consumption habits and help them change their behaviour. The clip, which the Commission hopes will ‘go viral’ – ah, the innocence of bureaucrats! – is designed to be spread by Facebook users. It features Walter apparently on a psychiatrist’s couch, talking about how he hates to see water wasted.

Entre Nous struggles a little bit with the message, which appears to be that if you worry about water you are neurotic and need psychiatric help. On the other hand, Entre Nous relishes the unasked question of whether Water Walter makes his shrink shrink.