The Water is Just the Merch.
Liquid Death runs an entertainment business, and also sells water.
In 2021, you could buy a skateboard deck from a water company. They had 100 limited edition decks available, and priced at $500 each. They were painted red color that was mixed with Tony Hawk’s actual blood. Every single one sold out. It was a stunt from the brand Liquid Death that at that point had been selling water in cans for about 2 years.
The idea for the brand (according to Mike Cessario, the founder) was that punk and metal musicians who wanted to drink water on stage were hiding it in energy drink cans because plastic water bottles looked lame and ultra L7 in pictures. Healthy products were packaged for people who wanted to look healthy, and nobody made a product for somebody who didn't fit that mold. That's how they got to water in a beer-format tallboy can.
Cessario launched his brand in Juanuary 2019 with seed funding from Secience Inc, and sold cans through the company’s website. The name was chosen to go against category instinct. “What would be the dumbest possible name to call a water?” is how Cessario posed the question.
What then compounded from there was their non-traditional advertising approach. Liquid Death operates like a small entertainment studio where the content happens to be distributed via the beverage aisle. The output is watched by customers on purpose.
In 2022, they ran a regional Super Bowl spot where a house full of children raged to Judas Priest’s “Breaking the Law.”
They convinced Martha Stewart (and her people) to sell a $58 scented candle that looked like a severed hand gripping the Liquid Death can.
In 2021, the company had $45 million in sales and $3 million of that came from merchandise (hoodies, shirts, hats, that kinda thing). That means that customers what the Liquid Death identity to be their identity.
In May 2021, Live Nation made Liquid Death the exclusive water sold at more then 120 of it’s owned-and-operated venues. The tallboy can worked for the concert crowd, and the venues could also tell a sustainability story. Eight months later, Live Nation decided to invest in the brand.
What Liquid Death now owns is a thing a competitor can’t purchase, a audience that treats the brand as a cultural item, not packaging. ANybody can put water in a can (plenty have), but they’ve created a vibe and an identity around the brand.
In March 2024, e.l.f. Cosmetics launched Corpse Paint, a heavy metal makeup collection co-branded with Liquid Death. The first drop sold out in 45 minutes. A second collection showed up in Jan 2026, with six limited-edition lip “em”balms flavored like Liquid Death drink flavors.
If you’re new here, I write a monthly serialized novel called Everything is Advertising, about a burned-out Creative Director and his cynical team that accidentally create QAnon through a viral marketing campaign. If you like that kind of thing, you can start at Part One and catch up from there.
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