Continuing to ride on the coattails of the successful television show “The Apprentice,” featuring mega promoter and businessman Donald Trump, a new bottled water has arrived in McLean. Trump Ice is the bottled water that contestants on the show tried to sell in order to prove their business savvy to Trump and his advisers.
Bringing Trump Ice to McLean is the vision of commercial real estate broker Ann Page. “I was a real fan of the show and was in Palm Beach, where I read it was about the hottest thing selling in Palm Beach,” said Page. “I thought this would be hot here. It’s a novelty item, but it should be popular for several months, especially since the show is coming back,” Page said.
She convinced Cecile Giannangeli, who owns Cecile's finewine.com located at the Salona Village Shopping Center in McLean, to carry the bottled water. “Several wine stores in the area sell water, so I just called, and Cecile was interested,” said Page of the pairing.
The water has been at the store for only a week and is just starting to be displayed on the floor - action that would have caused go-getter Trump to declare, “You’re fired!” It retails for $2 a bottle.
Giannangeli said, “People buy a lot of bottled water, so if you’re going to buy it, you might as well buy something fun.” She adds, “It’s a novelty, but it’s fun. The show had such a following.”
Page is planning to have an “Apprentice” party to celebrate the second season of the popular show. “I’m going to have an ‘Apprentice’ party and make people send me their resumes. That’s going to be on the invitation,” said Page. She plans to serve the water during the party.
Giannangeli said that “Apprentice” parties were popular during the first run of the show, so they are hoping people will want to do that again — only this time they will have an actual assignment as a party favor. “One of the tasks was for the young people to sell the water by the pallet,” said Page, who now finds herself with her very own pallet of water.
It’s been said that Trump never misses an opportunity to promote himself, and Trump Ice is no exception. The bottled water features a head shot of Trump with his trademark sneer, against an orange background. “They are kind of funny because they’ve made such an issue of his hairstyle, which is right on the bottle,” said Page.
Some residents are skeptical of the marketability of Trump Ice. “Why would I buy that? It’s just another gimmick, isn’t it? I don’t think [Trump] needs my money,” said Laurie Fox.
Giannangeli counters that there is a market for it. “It is water, after all,” said Giannangeli.