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Liquid Death

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Liquid Death
TypeMountain Water, iced tea, sparkling water
ManufacturerSupplying Demand, Inc.
Country of origin 3300 Artesian Virginia, US
Introduced2019; 5 years ago (2019)
ColorClear
VariantsSparkling water
Websiteliquiddeath.com

Liquid Death is a canned water company founded by Mike Cessario. Its tagline is "murder your thirst".[1] The drink is sold in a 16.9 US fl oz (500 ml) "tallboy" drink can and a 19.2 US fl oz (570 ml) can. As of 2023, its water is canned by Wilderness Asset Holdings LLC in Virginia, US. The drink began selling to consumers on its website in January 2019. Its manufacturer is Supplying Demand, Inc. As of October 2022, the company is valued at $700 million, though according to Dan Primack of Axios, the valuation could be viewed "skeptically"[2] as it was an insider-led round.

Products

The drink is sold in a 16.9 US fl oz (500 ml) "tallboy" drink can.[3] Its water was sourced from the Austrian Alps,[4] where it was also canned.[5] It was canned by the Austrian beverage company Starzinger in the Upper Austrian town of Frankenmarkt (altitude 1,759 ft).[6][7] In 2020, the brand introduced a sparkling water variety.[8] Its manufacturer is Supplying Demand, Inc.[9] In addition to the original sparkling water, Liquid Death also introduced four flavored carbonated beverages including Mango Chainsaw, Severed Lime, Convicted Melon, and Berry It Alive.[10] Unlike their unflavored seltzer these flavored carbonated beverages ("sparkling waters") are actually akin to all-natural, low-calorie sodas as they not only contained added natural flavorings/extracts but also acidulants and some added sugar (from agave nectar) as well. The sugar sparkling waters have each around 20 calories. In March 2023, the company announced sale of three tea flavors: Grim Leafer, Rest in Peach, and Dead Billionaire. Dead Billionaire was originally called Armless Palmer, a play on the popular iced tea and lemonade beverage Arnold Palmer, but after an unnamed enterprise threatened to sue the company for commercial use of the Palmer name in November 2023, Liquid Death announced the name change to Dead Billionaire, taking a jab at the late golfer.[11] All tea flavors contain agave nectar and 30 mg of caffeine.[12]

Liquid Death is also a producer of NFTs, which they called Murder Head Death Club.[13]

As of 2023, its water is sourced in Bland County, Virginia.

History

Delaware native Mike Cessario, a graphic designer[14] was inspired to create Liquid Death after watching a Vans Warped Tour in 2009, in which concert goers would drink water out of Monster Energy cans to stay hydrated. Cessario stated he wondered why no one had marketed water in a manner similar to Monster. For marketing, Cessario emphasized interestingness, which he believed would transition into organic shares on social media.[15]

The company originated with Cessario and three other partners, including a bartender and an artist. Before he and his partners chose the name Liquid Death, they thought over different names for the company such as "Southern Thunder".[14] Cessario filed a trademark application for the term "Liquid Death" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on July 6, 2017.[16] He produced a video advertisement to gauge market interest in the product, which received three million views before the water was available to consumers for purchase. Within a few months of release, the company had over 100,000 "likes" on Facebook, more than brands such as Aquafina had generated in their history on the platform.[14]

In 2019, Cessario stated the company's plan was to expand to bars, tattoo parlors, and certain barber shops in Los Angeles and Philadelphia as a "lifestyle play".[17] Cessario stated the brand was initially marketed towards straight edge adherents and fans of heavy metal music and punk rock.[18] The drink began selling to consumers on its website in January 2019.[17] Liquid Death raised US$1.6 million in seed funding from a round led by Science Inc. in 2019 (for a total amount raised to $2.25 million at that point),[18] $9 million in a series A round in February 2020,[19] and $23 million in a series B round in September 2020.[20]

In February 2020, the brand expanded into Whole Foods Market in the United States,[8] where according to Eater it became "the fastest-selling water brand on its shelves".[14] In August 2020, the brand expanded into two hundred 7-Eleven stores in the Los Angeles and San Diego markets as part of a trial run.[21] In May 2021, the company raised an additional $15 million in a Series C funding round completed with Live Nation, who said they would sell the drink exclusively in their events and venues for a period of time.[22] As of December 2021, the drink began selling in large supermarket chains such as Publix and Sprouts stores.[23] In January 2022, the company raised $75 million in Series C funding. The company received a $525 million valuation at the time.[24]

Cessario stated that the company's revenue rose to $45 million in 2021,[24] with revenue projected at $130 million for 2022.[a][25] In October 2022, the company raised a round led by Science for $70 million at a $700 million valuation, though according to Dan Primack of Axios, the valuation could be viewed "skeptically" as it was an insider-led round.[2]

Promotions

In May 2020, the company released Greatest Hates, an album of death metal music created with lyrics from hate comments the company received online;[26] a second album of hate comments, described as "punk rock", was released in November.[27][28][29] In February 2022, during Super Bowl LVI, the company released an advertisement featuring children enjoying the beverage with Judas Priest's song "Breaking the Law". Parodying advertisements for alcoholic beverages, the advertisement ends with the tagline "Don't be scared, it's just water".[30]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Projection made in October 2022[25]

References

  1. ^ "Review: Liquid Death". Bevnet. February 13, 2019. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Primack, Dan (October 4, 2022). "Canned water brand Liquid Death now valued at $700 million". Axios. Archived from the original on November 27, 2022. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  3. ^ Rosner, Helen (May 15, 2019). "Liquid Death and the Nonsense of Packaged Water". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020.
  4. ^ Loizos, Connie (September 30, 2020). "The Joke is on Consumers as Liquid Death Raises $23 Million More". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on December 2, 2020.
  5. ^ Reiley, Laura (May 7, 2019). "These Aluminum Cans are Totally Metal: Liquid Death Sells Water to Punks who are Too Cool for Alcohol". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020.
  6. ^ "Wasser aus Frankenmarkt beliebt in den USA" [Water from Frankenmarkt popular in the USA]. ORF (in German). July 28, 2022. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  7. ^ "US-Marke "versilbert" Wasser aus Oberösterreich". MSN (in Austrian German). Archived from the original on July 28, 2022. Retrieved July 28, 2022.
  8. ^ a b Cutchin, James (September 29, 2020). "Liquid Death Raises Additional $23 Million". LA Business Journal. Archived from the original on October 27, 2020.
  9. ^ "Supplying Demand Inc". Bloomberg. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  10. ^ "Water – Classics/Flavors". Liquid Death. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
  11. ^ Silverman, Sam (November 30, 2023). "Liquid Death Canned Water Changes Name of 'Armless Palmer' Beverage: 'Now It Has a Way Cooler Name'". Entrepreneur.
  12. ^ McCarthy, Amy (March 3, 2023). "Liquid Death's New Tea Tallboys Are Coming for AriZona's Neck". Eater. Archived from the original on March 15, 2023. Retrieved March 19, 2023.
  13. ^ Alcántara, Ann-Marie (July 29, 2022). "Brands Try Turning NFTs From Kitschy Collectibles Into Something Utilitarian for Consumers". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022.
  14. ^ a b c d McCarthy, Amy (December 6, 2021). "The Cult of Liquid Death". Eater. Archived from the original on November 3, 2022.
  15. ^ Huddleston Jr, Tom; Green, Zachary (November 26, 2022). "How Liquid Death's 40-year-old founder turned 'the dumbest name' and a Facebook post into a $700 million water brand". CNBC. Archived from the original on January 2, 2023. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  16. ^ "Basic Word Search". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Note: Perform a "Basic Word Search" for the term "Liquid Death", and select serial number "87518674" from the results.
  17. ^ a b Loizos, Connie (January 24, 2019). "A Brand Called Liquid Death Wants to Sell Mountain Water to the Cool Kids". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020.
  18. ^ a b Hernbroth, Megan (May 7, 2019). "A Former Netflix Creative Director just got $1.6 million from Big Names in Tech for Liquid Death, which is Water in a Tallboy Can". Business Insider. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020.
  19. ^ Ha, Anthony (February 20, 2020). "Liquid Death Raises $9M to Make Canned Water Cool". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on March 3, 2020.
  20. ^ Abdollah, Tami (September 25, 2020). "Liquid Death Creeps into Stores Nationally". dot.la. Archived from the original on November 1, 2020.
  21. ^ Holtz, Steve (August 19, 2020). "7-Eleven Gives 25 Small Brands a Test Run". CSP. Archived from the original on November 30, 2020.
  22. ^ Loizos, Connie (May 13, 2021). "With its Newest Round, Liquid Death Will Exclusively 'Murder Your Thirst' at Live Nation Events". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on June 3, 2021.
  23. ^ "Where to Buy". Liquid Death. Archived from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  24. ^ a b Loizos, Connie (January 4, 2022). "Liquid Death lands $75M more to expand the brand". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on February 21, 2022.
  25. ^ a b Valinsky, Jordan (October 4, 2022). "Liquid Death canned water company is now worth $700 million". CNN. Archived from the original on December 14, 2022. Retrieved January 5, 2023.
  26. ^ Robicelli, Allison (November 17, 2020). "Liquid Death Releases a Second Album Inspired by its Worst Online Reviews [Updated]". The Takeout. Archived from the original on November 28, 2020.
  27. ^ Trapp, Philip (May 4, 2020). "Company Turns Hateful Social Media Comments Into Death Metal Album". Loudwire. Archived from the original on November 2, 2020.
  28. ^ Serra, Maria (December 2, 2020). "Here's how Liquid Death Turned Hate Comments into a Punk Album". AltPress. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021.
  29. ^ Mamo, Heran (November 18, 2020). "Alkaline Trio & Rise Against Members Help Liquid Death Water Turn Hate Tweets into a Punk Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 20, 2021.
  30. ^ Stanley, T. L. (February 14, 2022). "Liquid Death Scored With Its Ad Starring Hard-Partying Kids". AdWeek. Archived from the original on March 11, 2022. Retrieved March 8, 2022.
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