Mike Cessario came up with the idea for a viral water brand by asking himself “What is the dumbest possible idea we could have?” His answer was Liquid Death: an aluminum can of water that looks like a cross between beer and poison. While it seemed self-destructive, the idea turned out to be brilliant: Liquid Death connected with customers who don’t typically buy bottled water, and built a moat around itself by being entertaining and edgy—something most brands struggle with. As a former ad-man with one failed business behind him, Mike initially sidelined his idea when he couldn't find a co-packer to put spring water in aluminum cans. But seven years after launch, Liquid Death is both a water and an entertainment company, with annual revenue well above $100M.
This episode was produced by Kerry Thompson with music by Ramtin Arablouei.
Edited by Neva Grant, with research from Casey Herman.
Our engineers were Robert Rodriguez and Josh Newell.
You can follow HIBT on Twitter & Instagram, and email us at hibt@id.wondery.com.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Sun Bum: Tom Rinks
HIBT Lab! Slutty Vegan: Pinky Cole
Food52: Amanda Hesser (2021)
HIBT Lab! Saysh: Wes and Allyson Felix
Xero Shoes: Steven Sashen and Lena Phoenix
HIBT Lab! Too Good To Go: Lucie Basch
Michael Kors: Michael Kors
HIBT Lab! The Confess Project: Lorenzo Lewis
Politico & Axios: Jim VandeHei
HIBT Lab! Boom Supersonic: Blake Scholl
Osprey Packs: Mike Pfotenhauer
ICYMI... HIBT Lab! OpenAI: Sam Altman
The Ringer: Bill Simmons
HIBT Lab! Biobot Analytics: Mariana Matus and Newsha Ghaeli
Zumiez: Tom Campion
HIBT Lab! The Sioux Chef: Sean Sherman
Chomps: Pete Maldonado and Rashid Ali
HIBT Lab! Osmo Salt: Nick DiGiovanni
Tarte Cosmetics: Maureen Kelly
HIBT Lab! Nuro: Dave Ferguson
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Hidden Brain
The Indicator from Planet Money
Freakonomics Radio
The Daily
Kids Of The Future