Liquid Death, co-founded by former advertising creative Mike Cessario in 2017, developed its canned-water brand around beer-style packaging and satirical advertising. On March 11, 2024, the company announced a $67 million financing round at a $1.4 billion valuation, following its expansion beyond still water.
In that announcement, Liquid Death reported $263 million in retail sales recorded at registers in 2023 and a distribution footprint of 113,000 retail locations across the United States and United Kingdom. That sales measure represents purchases at retailers, rather than the company’s own revenue.
Early advertising and the product launch
Cessario developed a satirical announcement video as a side project to support a 2017 crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo. The campaign was unsuccessful, but the video was reported to have generated more than 1 million Facebook views in less than two months.
In a 2022 account of Liquid Death’s early marketing, Cessario said the company had made a $1,500 Facebook commercial before it had a product available, aiming to test people’s reaction to the concept.
Liquid Death began selling water through its website and Amazon in January 2019. Its tallboy cans featured a skull design and the slogan “Murder Your Thirst.”
In February 2020, the company announced a $9 million Series A round led by Velvet Sea Ventures, bringing its total funding to $11.25 million. Cessario said the money would help expand its sales team and increase manufacturing output as it pursued national distribution.
At the time, the company planned a nationwide Whole Foods rollout and the introduction of an unflavored sparkling water for March 2020.
Packaging as advertising
In February 2024, Liquid Death promoted an eBay auction for advertising space on a planned national run of more than 500,000 cases. The company presented the offer as an alternative to buying a Super Bowl television commercial, with bidding starting at $500 and the auction scheduled for February 6–13.
Its auction terms retained company control over production and distribution. They did not guarantee audience exposure, placement at particular retailers or production of more than 500,000 cases.
By the March 2024 financing announcement, Liquid Death’s range included flavored sparkling water, iced tea and a newly introduced powdered hydration line called Death Dust. The company said the financing would support distribution and product development, and named investors including distribution partners, Live Nation, actor Josh Brolin and NFL player DeAndre Hopkins.
