An animated ad features a hulking humanoid version of Liquid Death on a rampage, bloodily dismembering people drinking the water.
CEO and co-founder Mike Cessario, who worked on Netflix hits including House of Cards and Stranger Things, told Business Insider that Liquid Death looked cooler than bottled water and would appeal to “straight edge and vegan punks” because the company will donate five cents from each can sold to help clean plastic from the oceans.
Cessario is not the first to come up with a gimmicky and “environmentally friendly” alternative. According to MarketResearch.com, the bottled water industry is estimated to be worth US$350 billion by 2021, and there are demands on brands to come up with plastic-free ways to sell water.
Here are other water “trends” that have gained popularity and notoriety in recent years.
1. Raw water
Basically untreated water, the “raw water” fad appealed particularly to Silicon Valley types, according to The New York Times. Companies such as Live Water, Tourmaline Spring and Liquid Eden began selling the product, which they claimed was fluoride free and had not been piped through lead, but had “natural bacteria” that was beneficial to the body.
The founder of Live Water famously described tap water as “toilet water with birth control drugs” and called treated water “dead water”. Live Water sold its unsterilised spring water in glass containers holding 9.5 litres at US$36.99 each.
Another company, Zero Mass Water, charged US$4,600 to install a system to “extract drinking water from air” that included two solar panels to power it. The company said it was not raw water but an “off-the-grid alternative to tap water”.
However, drinking untreated water from unverified sources can be a health hazard, with the possibility of E.coli bacteria, viruses, parasites and carcinogenic compounds being present.
Two billion people globally drink water contaminated with faeces, according to the World Health Organisation.
2. Alkaline water
Beyoncé and Katy Perry drink it so it must be good, right? Alkaline water has been around for years and Beyoncé gave it another push in 2013 when it was reported she drank it on her Mrs Carter Show World Tour.
Alkaline water is treated so it has a higher pH level than tap or bottled water, which typically falls between the 6.5 and 7.5 pH range. Alkaline water generally ranges from 8 to 10 pH – the same pH value as soap.
Drinking alkaline water is said to neutralise the acid from proteins we consume and was promoted by controversial alternative medicine practitioner Robert Young. However, there is no health benefit to drinking alkaline water and you cannot change the pH value of your body by drinking it, scientists say.
3. Luxury water
Enterprising minds have come up with ever more ridiculous and expensive ways to sell what should be a free resource.
One entrepreneur has even made a career out of selling bottles of luxury water. Martin Riese, a “water sommelier” from Germany, launched a 45-page water menu at a bar in Los Angeles and wants to “give value to water”.
Meanwhile, in 2017, the €75 (US$83) Svalbaroi iceberg water from Norway had to be taken off the shelves at a Hong Kong supermarket after consumers labelled it “stupid” and unenvironmentally friendly.
The Guardian also criticised the venture – which was selling water from icebergs – as “insensitive” for exploiting one of the world’s last wildernesses, while by 2025, half the world’s population will be living in water-stressed regions.
