You are now entering Ad Space, a realm of commercials, brought before us so we might examine how they work, and discuss why we both love and hate them so. So it is written …
The Product:
Liquid Death water
The Promotion:
The Pitch:
We’re making water metal!
There’s an amusing story behind Liquid Death and its … shall we say, unusual marketing.
The company’s founder, Mike Cesario, once attended a music festival sponsored by Monster energy drinks, where the bands on stage only had cans of Monster to drink. Given this was on a hot day in summer, Cesario wondered how the musicians able to stand slugging back cans of energy drink like it was water – until they found out those cans were water, just with Monster’s logo on the front.
That sparked an idea: what if you marketed bottled canned water using the same attitudes and aesthetics that a company like Monster uses to make their product seem badass? Bottled water companies all associate themselves with clear, soft bottles and images of pristine nature, their commercials invariably full of soft voices and soothing music. If you went in just the opposite direction, adopted a harder edged image with metallic cans, youthful and energetic advertising, and an aggressive slogan like “Murder Your Thirst!” … well, you’re gonna stand out from the pack, at the very least, and maybe attract some customers who wouldn’t ordinarily have thought to buy some water.
It’s not a bad idea, and it helps that they approach it with plenty of self-awareness about how silly it is to use this kind of advertising in a water commercial. This ad is only one of many that Liquid Death has done where they do something edgy or provocative to get attention, but only with a massive layer of irony slathered on top. All told, it makes for a fun, inventive, and definitely memorable marketing campaign.
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I’m still not gonna buy any, though.
I mean, c’mon, it’s water. Why would I spend money on individual cans of the stuff when I can just take an empty bottle over to the sink?