Last month, canned water brand Liquid Death debuted its first-ever music video, ‘F*ck Whoever Started This’. Created to promote its latest range of soft drinks, the video effectively cemented its reputation as the most unconventional of all the water brands.
Made entirely from hate comments, the album features some clever reverse psychology titles, such as ‘There’s Not Even Alcohol In It’ and ‘Worse Name For a Water Company’ – but also some more daring tracks that undoubtedly raised a few eyebrows – including ‘You Deserve Your Mouth P***** In’.
Surprisingly, rather than deterring consumers, it seems fans of this provocative non-alcoholic soft drink brand can’t get enough of its audacious exploits.
Murder your thirst
With a tagline which urges consumer to ‘murder’ their thirst, it’s no surprise that the brand has pulled an attention-grabbing stunt to get it’s name out there.
Earlier this year, the brand came out with an enema range, ‘Enema of the State’, endorsed by Blink 182’s Travis Barker who takes centre stage in a deadpan promo film that sees the star posing in the nude, censored from the waist down.
“What’s my secret?” asks Barker in the video campaign. “How did I marry the woman of my dreams? How have I had such a successful career in music? I use Liquid Death Mountain Water… in my a**hole.”
The line is hailed as the first-ever celebrity-endorsed luxury enema kit, although a small disclaimer does note that the tongue-in-cheek product is intended as an art collectable, and not for personal use.
Previous stunts include collaborations with skating legend Tony Hawk and TV personality Martha Stewart (although neither of those partnerships promoted enema kits) and the launch of a country club programme for the small price of ‘selling your soul’ – or alternatively, the rather eye-watering amount of £99,000 ($125,000).
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Liquid Death has garnered popularity through its distinctively-named beverages, burgeoning cult-like following and eye-catching beer can packaging, but the brand takes a dry-witted approach to more traditional marketing as well.
A recent ad campaign mocked both plastic pollution and plastic surgery by suggesting the former could be solved by using waste to fuel the latter, before going on to highlight Liquid Death’s choice of aluminium container over plastic bottle, actively championing ‘death to plastic’ as a more environmentally-friendly option.
So, having recently launched in the UK following great success in the US – where the brand was valued at £535.5 million ($700 million) last year – what other secrets lie behind the fearless rise to success?
Liquid Death: standing out from the crowd
Talking about Liquid Death’s adult marketing approach, Andy Pearson, Liquid Death’s vice president of creative, explained that he wasn’t worried about alienating certain demographics – rather that the key to the brand’s success is standing out from the crowd and remaining authentic.
“We simply took the lyrics verbatim from real comments that people have left. We didn’t censor anything because we feel it’s unfair to haters to water down their true passion and authentic voices,” Pearson said.
“From a higher viewpoint, we want to use humour to make health and sustainability 50 times more fun. All the bad-for-you-brands out there like beers and energy drinks have traditionally had the funniest, coolest marketing.”
Explaining what makes the brand unique, Pearson said: “Healthy brands have typically had bland advertising. So the whole idea is, what if we built a healthy brand that you actually like because it doesn’t act like it is?”
“Bold marketing strategies and viral social media content have driven that popularity skywards, with the start-up’s marketing team having fun with a number of other.”
The power of music: Greatest Hates
Music has always been a core part of the Liquid Death attitude, says Pearson, so it made sense for the brand to create albums while rival brands continue to choos more conventional marketing strategies.
“We have a ton of musicians who are a part of the company as well as a whole network of friends who are in the scene. We also have a partnership with Live Nation to replace plastic bottled water at their festivals, venues, and amphitheaters with infinitely recyclable aluminum cans,” he explains.
“For a brand to release their own album, I think it firstly has to be great music and secondly, has to have a great concept. Hopefully we’re ticking both boxes with all our Greatest Hates albums.”
The brand’s latest album represents a departure from Liquid Death’s previous punk and metal sound, embracing a vibrant collection of 80s dance-pop anthems. Does this signify more experimentation for the brand moving forwards?
“We’re always experimenting. We never want the next thing we launch to look like the last thing we did. I think that’s part of the fun of Liquid Death. You never know what’s coming next,” Pearson says.
“Just like any great comedy franchise, we want to work our way through pop culture and find humour in everything. And yes, we’ve got plenty more ridiculous stuff coming soon.”
