In clever marketing…

Liquid Death the brand whose manifesto reads “We’re just a funny water company who hates corporate marketing as much as you do” has once again given the finger to traditional advertising – this time by hiring porn stars to peddle their product.  

The 55 second ad, which will either amuse or offend (and if it’s the latter, you really need to grow a sense of humor), is set in a sparkling white clean kitchen and stars Cherie DeVille wearing a prim, flowered dress. With cheesy background music that sounds fresh out of a commercial starring a woman who gets excited over cleaning products, DeVille introduces herself as an “adult film star and stepmom of the internet.” The ingenious copy then takes a turn. Filled with sexual innuendo that’s bleeped out by the “censors” she tells the audience what she enjoys in the sack then proceeds to advise them that the one thing she’s not into is single use plastic. Luckily Liquid Death has an infinitely recyclable aluminum can.

The spot ends with DeVille gliding onto a brightly lit porn set where she’s informed by the crew that her stepson is ready. There, hand on hip, every bit the respectable, professional spokesperson, she delivers the message “C’mon don’t fuck the planet.” Of course, with the word “fuck” bleeped out.

Adweek, who reported on Liquid Death’s campaign, said co-founder and CEO, Mike Cessario acknowledged that he used DeVille for her high profile but that the company had a bigger vision than clickbait: “Statistically speaking, adult film stars are some of the most famous people on the internet, and since our mission is to bring death to plastic bottles on a mass scale, we need to reach as many people as possible with our message.”

No stranger to outrageous ads, previous Liquid Death campaigns saw rapper Wiz Khalif pouring the water into what appears to be a wine glass but you find out later is a bong, a bunch of partying tots who look like they’re getting wasted (it’s just water!) and the hiring of a “real” witch to swing a football game.

Cessario started the company for less than 5K and it’s gone on to become the most successful water brand on the internet. In a video by online news company Freethink, the CEO said he came up with his unorthodox marketing style by looking at the success of unhealthy products that used funny and creative ads. He flipped the idea on its head by taking the healthiest product you could buy – water – and making the ads even more irreverent. His gamble worked. Liquid Death is now sold at more than 16,000 locations across the US. At the same time, they’ve been able to keep people focused on their environmental message. They give 10% of their profits to save the ocean and as mentioned, have a fully recyclable aluminum can. Most plastic ends up in landfills because there’s no financial upside to recycling it.  

This isn’t the first time Liquid Death has courted porn stars. They’ve also worked with Joanna Angel, Lisa Ann and Chloe Cherry in past campaigns as well as porn production crews. Cessario said that those in the adult industry “were over the moon to be involved in a fun video that was not porn,” and that the company “wanted to show that we do not think sex workers are demons because many are amazing professionals that deserve a shot at gigs outside the adult film industry.”

Image by Magda Ehlers from Pexels.