Liquid Death
 | |
| Liquid Death | |
| Founded | December 18, 2018[1] |
| Founder | Mike Cessario |
| Headquarters | , US[2] |
| Subsidiaries | Supplying Demand UK Limited[3] |
| Website | liquiddeath |
Supplying Demand, Inc.,[4] doing business as Liquid Death, is a canned water company founded by Mike Cessario. Its tagline is "murder your thirst".[5] 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 was canned by Wilderness Asset Holdings LLC in Virginia, US. The drink began selling to consumers on its website in January 2019. In October 2022, the company was valued at $700 million, though according to Dan Primack of Axios, the valuation could be viewed "skeptically"[6] as it was an insider-led round. Liquid Death currently has 14 flavors.
Products
[edit]The drink is sold in a 16.9 US fl oz (500 ml) "tallboy" drink can.[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 Arizona Beverage Company 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 was no longer sourced from the Alps.[14] It is now bottled in Bland County, Virginia[15] or Custer County, Idaho (according to label on cans).[16]
History
[edit]Delaware native Mike Cessario, a graphic designer[17] was inspired to create Liquid Death after watching a Vans Warped Tour in 2009 where concertgoers drank water out of Monster Energy cans. Cessario was inspired to market water in a manner similar to Monster. For marketing, Cessario emphasized interestingness, which he believed would transition into organic popularity on social media.[18]
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").[17] Cessario filed a trademark application for the term "Liquid Death" with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on July 6, 2017.[19] 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.[17]
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".[20] A move similar to The Coca-Cola Company's attempt to sell OK Soda on "feeling" rather than taste. [21] Cessario stated the brand was initially marketed towards straight edge adherents and fans of heavy metal music and punk rock.[22] The drink began selling to consumers on its website in January 2019.[20] 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),[22] $9 million in a series A round in February 2020,[23] and $23 million in a series B round in September 2020.[24]
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".[17] 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.[25] 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.[26] As of December 2021, the drink began selling in large supermarket chains such as Publix and Sprouts stores.[27] In January 2022, the company raised $75 million in Series C funding. The company received a $525 million valuation at the time.[28]
Cessario stated that the company's revenue rose to $45 million in 2021,[28] with revenue projected at $130 million for 2022.[a][29] 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.[6]
In March 2024, the company raised $67 million in funding and received a $1.4 billion valuation. Liquid Death also reported $263 million in retail sales for 2023.[30]
Promotions
[edit]In May 2020, the company released Greatest Hates, an album of death metal music created with lyrics from hate comments the company received online;[31] a second album of hate comments, described as "punk rock", was released in November.[32][33][34] 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".[35]
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Supplying Demand, Inc. :: Delaware (US) :: OpenCorporates". Open Corporates. 18 December 2018. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ "Incorporation". Companies House (PDF). 28 February 2023. p. 7. Archived from the original on 13 July 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ "Supplying Demand UK Limited overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House. 28 February 2023. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ "Privacy policy". Liquid Death. Archived from the original on 19 March 2024. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
- ^ "Review: Liquid Death". Bevnet. 13 February 2019. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b Primack, Dan (4 October 2022). "Canned water brand Liquid Death now valued at $700 million". Axios. Archived from the original on 27 November 2022. Retrieved 6 January 2023.
- ^ Rosner, Helen (15 May 2019). "Liquid Death and the Nonsense of Packaged Water". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 2 March 2020.
- ^ a b Cutchin, James (29 September 2020). "Liquid Death Raises Additional $23 Million". LA Business Journal. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020.
- ^ "Supplying Demand Inc". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
- ^ "Water – Classics/Flavors". Liquid Death. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
- ^ Silverman, Sam (30 November 2023). "Liquid Death Canned Water Changes Name of 'Armless Palmer' Beverage: 'Now It Has a Way Cooler Name'". Entrepreneur. Archived from the original on 3 December 2023. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ McCarthy, Amy (3 March 2023). "Liquid Death's New Tea Tallboys Are Coming for AriZona's Neck". Eater. Archived from the original on 15 March 2023. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
- ^ Alcántara, Ann-Marie (29 July 2022). "Brands Try Turning NFTs From Kitschy Collectibles Into Something Utilitarian for Consumers". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
- ^ "US-Firma Liquid Death verkauft kein österreichisches Wasser mehr" [US company Liquid Death no longer sells Austrian water]. Der Standard (in German). 19 July 2023. Archived from the original on 21 July 2023. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ "Artesian Water-Based Beverage Manufacturer to Expand in Virginia" (Press release). 2 March 2023. Archived from the original on 12 April 2024. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
- ^ Heller, Karen (17 June 2023). "Liquid Death is a mind-set. And also just canned water". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d ,McCarthy, Amy (6 December 2021). "The Cult of Liquid Death". Eater. Archived from the original on 3 November 2022.
- ^ Huddleston Jr, Tom; Green, Zachary (26 November 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 2 January 2023. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
- ^ "Basic Word Search". United States Patent and Trademark Office. Archived from the original on 13 April 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2021. Note: Perform a "Basic Word Search" for the term "Liquid Death", and select serial number "87518674" from the results.
- ^ a b Loizos, Connie (24 January 2019). "A Brand Called Liquid Death Wants to Sell Mountain Water to the Cool Kids". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020.
- ^ "Coke Hopes to Sell New Drink on How It Feels, Not Tastes". All Things Considered. National Public Radio. 27 May 1994. Archived from the original on 16 October 2004. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ a b Hernbroth, Megan (7 May 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 7 November 2020.
- ^ Ha, Anthony (20 February 2020). "Liquid Death Raises $9M to Make Canned Water Cool". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on 3 March 2020.
- ^ Abdollah, Tami (25 September 2020). "Liquid Death Creeps into Stores Nationally". dot.la. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020.
- ^ Holtz, Steve (19 August 2020). "7-Eleven Gives 25 Small Brands a Test Run". CSP. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020.
- ^ Loizos, Connie (13 May 2021). "With its Newest Round, Liquid Death Will Exclusively 'Murder Your Thirst' at Live Nation Events". Tech Crunch. Archived from the original on 3 June 2021.
- ^ "Where to Buy". Liquid Death. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 5 December 2021.
- ^ a b Loizos, Connie (4 January 2022). "Liquid Death lands $75M more to expand the brand". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022.
- ^ a b Valinsky, Jordan (4 October 2022). "Liquid Death canned water company is now worth $700 million". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2023.
- ^ Blum, Sam (12 March 2024). "Liquid Death, the Canned Water Company for Hipsters and Head Bangers, Doubled Its Valuation OvernightThe brand that tells customers to 'murder your thirst' is now a unicorn". inc.com. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
- ^ Robicelli, Allison (17 November 2020). "Liquid Death Releases a Second Album Inspired by its Worst Online Reviews [Updated]". The Takeout. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020.
- ^ Trapp, Philip (4 May 2020). "Company Turns Hateful Social Media Comments Into Death Metal Album". Loudwire. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020.
- ^ Serra, Maria (2 December 2020). "Here's how Liquid Death Turned Hate Comments into a Punk Album". AltPress. Archived from the original on 17 February 2021.
- ^ Mamo, Heran (18 November 2020). "Alkaline Trio & Rise Against Members Help Liquid Death Water Turn Hate Tweets into a Punk Album". Billboard. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021.
- ^ Stanley, T. L. (14 February 2022). "Liquid Death Scored With Its Ad Starring Hard-Partying Kids". AdWeek. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.