Liquid Death x Netflix's Rebel Moon = Cosmic Mayhem

Liquid Death fuses uber-patriotic beer commercial tropes with space opera for a romp portraying its canned water as “The Mandatory Beverage of the Motherrworld.”

The tie-in with Netflix’s Rebel Moon shows galactic soldiers pounding on downtrodden locals with narration that begins:

“Hard work. It’s what this moon was built on. That’s why it’s taken a lot more hard work to steal it for our own. That’s why after a hard day’s work of beating up ungrateful space farmers, nothing murders your thirst quite like an ice-cold Liquid Death.”

Remember: “Rebel farmers are backwater space scum who don’t deserve a single grain of their wheat. YOU do. But more importantly, the Motherworld does.”

It’s not as yucky as some LD campaigns. But it packs a punch—many, and some kicks, too—powered by the brand’s trademark subversive style and snarky direction by Eli Snyder (son of Zack Snyder, who made Rebel Moon).

“Fantasy and sci-fi partnerships are fun places for us to play,” Liquid Death VP, creative Andy Pearson tells Muse. “The brand already feels like it comes from an alternate universe to begin with. So, it’s a fun process to imagine, ‘What if this world really existed, and Liquid Death existed in that world?'”

“We’ve done it before in partnerships with Zack’s previous Netflix film Army of the Dead, plus a few others,” he says. “In this case, our approach was: If we’re an evil beverage corporation, we would side with the bad guys. Or at least be used as a propaganda mouthpiece for them to impose some draconian measure while appearing to be good on the surface.”

Eli Snyder adds: “Leveraging the real environments used in the film allowed us to maximize the irony.”

So, it’s in-world meta stuff, with some social commentary and military oppression. Cool.

To nail the tone, “We watched a lot of pandering Americana beer commercials as well as oil and chemical commercials,” Pearson recalls. “The stuff where this mega-corp is trying to pull on the heartstrings of working-class America to trick them into thinking they’re doing this all for them, and not for their own gains.”

“I can’t wait to see how many of the Super Bowl ads this year feel just like this—but serious.”

What’s he talking about? Sounds like one of those rebel scum. Call in the troops!

CREDITS

Co-Founder/CEO: Mike Cessario
SVP of Marketing: Dan Murphy
VP of Creative: Andy Pearson
VP of Marketing: Greg Fass
VP of Design: Frank Dresmé
Creative Director: Will Carsola
Associate Creative Director: Stu Golley
Senior Brand Manager: Tia Sherwood
Senior Social Media Manager: Rachael Mumford
Senior Nihilist: Brendan Kelly
Senior Graphic Designer: Kellen Breen
Video Editor: Tyler Beasley
Director: Eli Snyder
Executive Producer (Liquid Death): Johnny Eastlund
Executive Producer (Believe): Liz Silver
Executive Producer (Believe): Vitaly Koshman
Senior Producer: Tatianna Rodriguez
Senior Producer: Cookie Walukas
Production Coordinator: Rylee Brown
Line Producer: Lindsay Feldman
Production Coordinator: Shane Palmer
Director of Photography: Jac Fitzgerald
Production Designer: Henry Arce