I haven't discussed a water in quite some time, so let's get to it. This was a find at my alternate Shop-Rite, in the soft drink/water aisle (obviously). It was the Liquid Death brand, which is bottled in Frankenmarkt, Austria.
When I checked into this online, Liquid Death had an odd imprint. The website was down, but there was quite a bit of information on Instragram and TikTok. But I'm basing a lot of this post on a longish (about 12-13 minutes) video from Business Axiom. Moving on, co-founder and current CEO Mike Cessario (who's a Delaware native) noticed in about 2008 or 2009 that many concert goers would refill energy drink containers with water, to both stay hydrated but still seem "cool." It got Cessario to thinking about how water is advertised. Essentially, he decided to market a water like it was an energy drink, in a funny and edgy way. He borrowed some of the dangerous imagery from his punk and metal band background, for example. Skulls and demons and such are often used in Liquid Death's advertisements. Along with an atypical product name, and motto ("murder your thirst"). Even the container is different--it's sold in 500 mL/16.9 ounce cans, which resemble beer "tallboy" cans. The brand also responds to negative comments and reviews in an unusual manner. They create death metal songs incorporating these criticisms as lyrics. Liquid Death also took a page from the band Kiss's playbook, by having one of their celebrity investors, Tony Hawk, donate blood, which was mixed into paint that was put on branded Liquid Death skateboards. The video I watched was quite complimentary of Liquid Death's marketing, claiming it's successful because they're exploiting the "Von Restorff Effect" (aka the Isolation Effect), which basically means that consumers remember products that are unique, and are different from their peers. Whatever the reason, Liquid Death has flourished. Despite only having started in January of 2019, it's expected to have an annual revenue of $130,000,000, and an expected company value of $700,000,000. Liquid Death has also expanded their choices a bit. It's introduced some flavored carbonated drinks, with appropriate menacing names such as Mango Chainsaw, Severed Lime, and Berry It Alive, and some teas (Armless Palmer, Grim Leafer, and Rest in Peach). The company does have a softer side, at least on one issue--they proudly don't use plastic for any of their containers, citing the waste and ecological problems with this substance. Additionally, 10% of their profits are donated to fight plastic pollution.
Liquid Death mountain water: I tend to like drinking out of a glass rather than from a metal can, so I did this with the Liquid Death. Its color was clear, as water should be. It also had no discernable odor, again, as water should be. The taste was....off somehow. Perhaps a tad bitter, in a bad way, and maybe a little metallic-y, again, a bad thing. I didn't do this double blind style versus a water I like, but I think I would have been able to tell the difference. Which is weird, since with rare exceptions water is basically water. I didn't like this, will not buy it again, and would not recommend it.
So, in conclusion, Liquid Death has a cool name, a neat motto, fun morbid imagery, entertaining advertisements, and they seem to have a nice progressive eco-friendly stance. But, alas, the actual product, the water in the can, was disappointing. It's hard to mess up a water, but somehow they did. (If anyone's thinking that maybe I got a bad individual can, I would counter with the detail that my can was well within its freshness date--it wouldn't have expired until June of 2025. I will try one of their flavored drinks or teas if I see any offered, though, just to see if their other wares are good or not. One final point about their environmental, anti-plastic stance. From what I read, it's true that aluminum is recycled more than plastic, which is good, but that the manufacture of these cans actually produces more CO2 than plastic, which is clearly bad. Many environmentalists recommend that instead of buying any one-use, disposable container, that people should instead fill eco-friendly containers with tap water (filtered if necessary). Finally, I do have to admit that part of me wants to come up with macabre/whimsical names for Liquid Death's teas and flavored carbonated drinks. Such as WaterHellion, Grapes of Wrath, and Busted Cherry.
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