Liquid Death

Submission 9,430

About

Liquid Death is a product created by former Netflix creative director Mike Cessario in 2017. It is a can of water marketed toward heavy metal fans and those wanting to blend in at bars and drinking events, as the cans resemble beer. In mid-2019, the brand generated widespread interest and discussions online after securing a $1.6 million investment from startup incubator Science. Then in late 2022, Liquid Death received a $700 million valuation, causing a resurgence in the company's online presence through memes and other discourse.

History

Liquid Death began as a collaboration between Netflix creative director Mike Cessario, bartender Pat Cook, J.R. Riggins, and Will Carsola.^[1] A Facebook page for the product launched on October 18th, 2017.^[2] In addition to being marketed towards a heavy metal fanbase, its creators consciously chose to package the water in cans, as "plastic water bottles are shit… aluminum cans are far and away the most sustainable beverage container by virtually every measure." The amount of carbonation in Liquid Death is also less than the amount of carbonation in most sparkling waters, mirroring the mouthfeel of most beers on the market which are also only slightly carbonated.^[12]

Over the course of the following year and a half, the product generated online interest, amassing over 140,000 Facebook likes as of May 8th, 2019. In January of 2019, the product was covered by Vice.^[3] On January 21st, the brand posted a commercial to YouTube showing an actress waterboarding a person. The video gained over 50,000 views.

$1.6 Million Investment from Science

On May 7th, 2019, the brand posted a second trailer, gaining over 10,000 views in one day (shown below). This coincided with an announcement that investment company Science, which has previously helped bankroll Dollar Shave Club, had invested $1.6 million in the company. This generated headlines and was covered by Business Insider,^[4] Daily Dot,^[5] and Buzzfeed.^[6]

The announcement and subsequent coverage of the investment generated reactions from Twitter users. Many felt the product was silly and overpriced. User @theferocity tweeted a joke implying the water would be better served in Flint, Michigan (shown below, left). However, Twitter user @willystaley supported the product, saying "getting men to overcome toxic masculinity and stay hydrated is difficult, trust me" (shown below, right).

Account Password Marketing Campaign

Liquid Death's marketing campaign has been praised by some for its uniqueness among competing companies, in part fueling its rapid growth. On August 24th, 2022, the company ran a play where it asked users to change their passwords to a certain phrase (seen below) so that the company could log in and tweet from their accounts. At least three people gave the water company access to their accounts.^[11]

TikToker @briiink posted a video of Internet personality Daniel Larson trying Liquid Death (seen below) on August 26th, 2022, earning over 231,000 likes over the course of a month.^[7]

$700 Million Valuation

On October 3rd, 2022, it was reported by Axios^[8] and other sources that Liquid Death was worth $700 million as a company, and had managed to raise $70 million from investors in a new round of funding. The news surprised many commentators and struck others as a testament to the power of branding. On Twitter, users like @Katie_Roof, who tweeted on October 3rd, 2022, that Liquid Death is just "water in a beer can" (shown below, left) but sold well because of its branding, receiving almost 2,800 likes.^[9] Others, like user @andrew__rea (shown below, right) who received almost 400 likes on the 4th of October, tweeted similar points.^[10]