Subverting expectations can sometimes turn off people looking for familiarity, other times it can flip a whole perspective on its head. That’s certainly the case for canned water brand Liquid Death. Upon first glance, nothing about its branding represents what people typically associate with water: plastic bottles, basic design, and a boring blue colorway. 

Liquid Death on the other hand, drips with a rock star-ish edginess that immediately piques your curiosity. After all, who in their right mind would want to drink liquified death? Despite the apparent “turn back now” sign, the tongue-in-cheek genius of it all is that it makes you want to try it even more. Not to worry, it’s just water. 

Launched in 2019, CEO Mike Cessario saw an industry in desperate need of some innovation. He posed the simple question, can I make water cool? Although bottled water itself has been evolving — from glacial sources to alkaline alchemy — the actual presentation has pretty much remained the same. Fast forward to today, and Liquid Death is now valued at a staggering $700 million, blowing other bottled water brands out of the… well, water.