I just heard of the brand Liquid Death. It started as water sold in cans that make it look like it’s an alcohol drink. I’ve never seen it in the store and never seen it online anywhere. How did I find out about it? A video on the Wall Street Journal’s website. Here’s the video.
To begin, the only beverages I drink on a regular basis are coffee, tea, and water that comes out of my fridge dispenser. Occasionally I’ll drink a bottle of pop when I’m eating popcorn at home while watching a movie. The pop I drink is generally a single 12 ounce bottle from a local manufacturer that uses real sugar rather than corn syrup. I wasn’t always like this until about 20 years ago. Before that I consumed standard brands of Coke, Pepsi, and the like. But, I’ve never really sought brands or trends of the day.
Liquid Death admits to just being water in a can. Nothing different than Evian or some other fru fru water brand. I don’t understand why anyone would care to consume any bottled water at high prices. The only time I ever purchase bottles of water is if I’m in a place where I’m thirsty and it is the only option available. I don’t carry water with me and I don’t carry empty water bottles with me to fill up at fountains or taps either. I just don’t subscribe to this over hydration madness as does the rest of the United States. No amount of marketing can convince me to do it either.
This brings me to the topic of marketing in general. Am I exposed to marketing? Sure. I watch some TV, I use social media, I listen to podcasts, and I read newspapers. All media has marketing attached to it in some form or fashion. I pay attention to it only if it’s pushing something for which I have a need. I rarely buy on want and I have yet to come across marketing that has been successful at making me want something I don’t need.
Most of my tech is old, with the exception of my phone and the Eero mesh network devices in my home. My computers are 10 year old Dell XPS Desktop PCs running Windows 10. The monitors are almost as old and so is the keyboard and trackball I use. My desk stapler is an old Swingline model 747. It’s a classic and all metal. The phone I’m using now is the Google Pixel 9 Pro. I bought it so I would have two relatively current phones that have decent battery life when I travel or go hiking. My other phone is a Google Pixel 7a. The 9 Pro is the first $1k phone I’ve purchased for myself… ever. As long as it doesn’t break or I don’t break it I believe I’ll use these phones for at least 5 years or more. My phone prior to the 7a was a Google Pixel 3 and I only replaced that because I dropped it in a stream while hiking and it was no longer waterproof because I replaced the battery twice and the USB-C port once. I could never quite get it sealed up correctly after taking it apart. But, that’s an example of how often I buy phones.
My cars are a nearly 10 year old Jeep Wrangler and a nearly 10 year old Mini Cooper. Over the last 30 years or more my clothes have consisted of Levi’s 501 jeans combined with sweatshirts, t-shirts, or some other type of inexpensive shirt. The shoes I wear daily are Panama Jack boots that I’ve been wearing since before they left the U.S. market (I have enough of those in stock to last me until I’m in my 80s). They’re the only shoes I like and the only shoes I wear other than the Converse All-Stars (which have holes in them now) and Nike cross-training shoes for working out.
I rarely eat out and I buy most of my food on sale or from Costco if I’m buying in bulk to freeze or need something specific they sell at lower prices than my local grocery store. Most of the meals we eat are simple and cooked at home.
All this is not to say I don’t like stuff. I just don’t like most stuff and no amount of marketing can convince me that I should like it. I don’t understand how people become convinced to buy a $3 can or bottle of water? I don’t care if it’s pitched as pure as a mountain spring or called “Mango Chainsaw Flavored” with cool looking logos. Who cares? It’s water. You’ll piss it out in less than an hour.