Shock Top & Indiegogo Team Up To Shock The California Drought By Dropping Bricks In Toilets

"We love the State of California. In fact, one out of every four Shock Tops are enjoyed in the state, and we want to help by bringing our innovative thinking and unique brand spirit to rally support and make a positive impact on this very serious issue," said Jake Kirsch, vice president, Shock Top. "Working together, we can Shock the Drought by sharing great ideas, pledging support and funding new inventions, and we’re excited to lead this charge."

In collaboration with our partners, Shock Top will identify breakthrough products from inventors around the world via crowdfunding platform Indiegogo that can make a big impact on water conservation. To kick things off, Shock Top will deliver $100,000 in funding for Drop-A-Brick 2.0, a modern, eco-friendly innovation that sprang from the classic drought tactic of placing a real brick in a toilet’s tank to save water. Today’s Drop-A-Brick is made from rubber to prevent damage to the tank and improves flushing performance, all while saving about 50 gallons per week. By funding a 2.0 version, Shock Top will help save millions of gallons of water across the state of California each year. In fact, 30,000 Drop-A-Bricks in toilets will save enough water for nearly half a million people to drink water for an entire year.

"Indiegogo empowers a global community of changemakers to turn their ideas of today into the innovative products of tomorrow," saidJerry Needel, senior vice president of sales and market development at Indiegogo. "As a California-based company, we’re proud to be the crowdfunding platform fueling Shock Top’s efforts to identify and bring water conservation technologies to life."

Tens of thousands of bricks – and future products – funded by Shock Top will be donated for free to partner organizations to be distributed throughout California areas hardest hit by the drought. California residents can visit ShockTheDrought.com to pledge support, submit their own water-saving inventions and discover new water-saving tips to join the movement.

Shock the Drought will bring much-needed solutions to Californians who are invested in protecting their home state. In fact, after months of water restrictions, California residents are more inspired than ever to take a role in fighting the drought, according to a new survey from Shock Top¹. Nearly half (47%) feel a greater responsibility to help the state and a vast majority of Californians (88%) make an effort to conserve water on average five times per day. Nearly all (96%) Californians have done at least something to reduce their water usage, including taking shorter showers (74%), rewearing clothes before washing (48%) or even flushing the toilet less often (48%). Evenso, one in two Californians (49%) report that they’d like to find even more ways to conserve water.

To broaden awareness, Shock Top has partnered with news platform Water Deeply, California’s statewide conservation education program Save Our Water, Los Angeles water education program Save the Drop, and the Solano County Water Agency to provide tips, information and educational materials for the Shock the Drought campaign.

"We appreciate the help of Shock Top to spread the word about the need to conserve and direct people to Save Our Water to identify specific actions," said Jennifer Persike, deputy executive director for external affairs and operations at Association of California Water Agencies and lead for Save Our Water. "There is tremendous drought awareness, but Californians are still learning which actions are most effective in saving water."

Shock Top is part of the Anheuser-Busch family, which has an impressive history of water conservation and has been dedicated to helping reduce its water use for many years. In fact, Anheuser-Busch reduced water usage at its Los Angeles and Fairfield breweries by more than 40 percent over the past 10 years (2004-2014). In 2014 alone, water usage has decreased by nine percent at its Los Angeles brewery and 6.7 percent at its Fairfield brewery. The California breweries are on track to reduce water usage an additional five percent by the end of 2015, and the company recently announced a $20 million investment at its Los Angeles brewery for water efficiency and treatment upgrades.

To join the Shock the Drought movement, visit ShockTheDrought.com to get useful tips and information about ways to make a difference, pledge support and get involved.