12:00a.m. 27th November 2007

| By Sam Benger

I'll drink to that! Cooroy Mountain Spring Water production supervisor Chris Shadbolt tests the product being used on the reality TV show The Biggest Loser. Photo: Geoff Potter

A Sunshine Coast business could be a big winner when the new season of Channel 10’s hit reality show The Biggest Loser screens in February.

Cooroy Mountain Spring Water was approached by the producers to supply water for the show, which sees 15 contestants – including former Sunshine Coast Daily employee John Morrall – battle the bulge in an attempt to lose the most weight and be declared Australia’s Biggest Loser.

And with all the exercise, gym work and exhertion the overweight contestents will be going through, there’s no doubt they’ll be guzzling down a few bottles of the crystal-clear H2O every day.

Acting general manager Harry Burnett said the company agreed to supply water for the show and now sent a shipment of its pure mountain spring water to Sydney every week.

He said it was hoping to go national in the next 12 months, and the product placement of its water on the show would be a huge boost.

“It gives us great credibility and exposure, and I guess there aren’t too many regional companies that have the opportunity to get national, prime-time coverage like this,” he said.

Mr Burnett said while it was hard to put a dollar figure on the value of the advertising on the national show, he expected it would mean increased sales for the company, which already sells water in Queensland, NSW and the Northern Territory. It hopes to expand to Victoria and South Australia next year.

Sunshine Coast Univesity head of marketing Associate Professor Michael Harker said product placement was more valuable and more powerful than advertising because of its inclusion in editorial content.

He said prime-time advertising was worth “thousands of dollars” for just a few seconds.

That shouldn’t be too hard to swallow.