Charlotte Business

MIAMI — The instructions are simple: Read the Prayer … Drink the Water … Believe in God! Believe in Yourself! Spiritual Water, the faith-inspired venture of two Sunrise, Fla., businessmen, offers its drinkers clearer focus, positive thinking and connection to a higher power. The 11 bottles in the company’s collection bear prayers and impressively detailed images of Jesus Christ, St. Michael and the Virgin Mary. Spiritual Water joins a broad slice of feel-good products — Testamint, Bible Gum and other bottled waters — emerging at the intersection of religion and commerce, entrepreneurship and pop culture. “There is a great history of people using religious images to sell products,” says Daniel Sack, an administrator at the University of Chicago Divinity School and author of “Whitebread Protestants: Food and Religion in American Culture.” “You are talking about combining the great American traditions of religion and consumption.”

“Church is on Sundays, but people need something to help them through the week,” says Taieb, 33 and CEO of the company. “… The whole idea is for people to feel better and to know God is with them.”

Spiritual Water’s message is delivered in a 16.9-ounce plastic bottle that sells for $2. The Formula J’ variety carries the image of Jesus in a crown of thorns and the Fatima prayer: “Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those in need of the mercy. Amen.”

“You drink it, and you just feel like you are in church,” says Cecilia Joseph, a Sunrise real estate agent who liked Spiritual Water so much she became a distributor. “The pictures are so beautiful. You look at them and read the prayer, and it just feels good.” Taieb, who spent several years in the pest-control business, had been thinking about a faith-based venture for more than a decade. He looked at several products through which to deliver his message of spiritual enrichment.

Sheesh!