Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Chicago Mercantile: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. US market indices are shown in real time, except for the S&P 500 which is refreshed every two minutes. Your CNN account Log in to your CNN account There’s clearly a desire for folks to have queer customers they just don’t know the right way to go about it.” Hoddeon said there’s a lot of “straight-coded brands that try to acquire the audience and that’s what Bud Light did. Of course, other drinks use the word “gay,” too, including Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hoddeson noted, which are also trying to reach the queer community and offer them an alternative in the straight-dominated space. “It’s a top-heavy category where niches can be carved out in similar fashion to craft beer.” “There’s lots of space in the spirit-based seltzer category in which Gay Water can play, especially if the brand can offer a cultural or emotional connection that will feel more exciting than the prospect of another pineapple-flavored vodka seltzer from national or international corporations,” Roth said. Gay Water might not have the deep pockets compared to its competitors, like White Claw, but “even at small scale, companies of many sizes are having success making spirit-based seltzers and premixed cocktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and editor of the alcohol beverage newsletter, Sightlines+, told CNN. Sales of premixed cocktails including surged about 36% last year, making it a $2.2 billion industry according to figures from Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. “When i look at a lot of brands entering the market right now, what they’re missing is the idea of who their audience is and who their community will be rather than what their product is,” he said. And despite the hundreds of brands on shelves (after all, a canned vodka soda isn’t something unique anymore), Hoddeson said it’s “exactly the right time” to join the space. Six-packs with a single flavor cost $18.25 and 12-packs with a variety of flavors cost $36.50.Īlthough spiked seltzers have cooled off with drinkers, spirit-based drinks, like High Noon, have grown in popularity. “Gay is an umbrella term and the idea behind the brand is to be as inclusive as possible, which means we want allies, we want straight people to be part of this community we’re building.”įor now, Gay Water is sold largely online (with a few retailers) and comes in four sugar-free flavors - watermelon, lime, peach and grapefruit - at launch. “I wanted to build something that is queer and part of the community, but isn’t necessarily rainbows and unicorns that you see all around pride,” he said. He worked together with a queer designer creating the colorful packaging, which pulls inspiration from ’90s Nickelodeon shows and pop art. Hoddeson built up a strong social media following on TikTok and Instagram during Covid-19 and is using some of the money from that (as well as from friends and family) to help fund Gay Water. The two chatted about the limited amount of gay people within it, and with Hoddeson burnt out from his traditional day job in tech, started the canned cocktail. He thought of creating Gay Water about a year ago while on a vacation with his friend that had got a job within the beverage industry. “Putting a product with the word gay in the title is representation itself,” which he hopes reclaims the word from the negativity it’s sometimes associated with. “We’re creating a brand that creates representation, particularly in spaces where representation is lacking like liquor stores, bars, restaurants and grocery stores,” he said. It’s also one of the few openly queer-owned alcohol brands, which Hoddeson said sparked him to create because he wanted more representation in the category. The canned cocktail is named after a colloquialism given to the popular mixed drink (vodka and soda) ordered at bars by the gay community. Anheuser-Busch loses top LGBTQ+ rating over its Bud Light response
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