For the Big Game, Liquid Death Waters Down Its Shock Tactics

But still satisfies our thirst for fun

In recent years, Liquid Death has reigned as the darling of the creative world. It’s subversive ads seemingly never fear to offend, even as they delight industry pros and drive buzz for the canned water brand.

Most taboos have been fair game, including illicit drugs, cigarettes, adult diapers, enemas and campy violence.

Such stuff kills across select digital channels and the brand’s social feeds, with copious press coverage amplifying the message.

The Super Bowl, of course, is a different beast. It’s the most mainstream commercial forum imaginable. The NFL and Fox have standards covering taste and imagery—oh so many dos and don’ts.

Which made us wonder if LD would water things down for its national Big Game debut.

The answer is … yes and no.

Naturally, enemas and gore are nowhere in sight. Instead, the brand’s Death Machine production arm brewed up a throwback beer-ad parody.

In a sense, they went straight up the middle, crafting a fun and mildly edgy scenario. The sight of pilots, school-bus drivers and surgeons drinking on the job should raise some eyebrows. But never fear. It’s just mountain water and ice tea.

The work feels somewhat similar to LD’s 2022 regional SB entry, though that one riffed on underage drinking and proved somewhat controversial.

Here, director Mike Bernstein and his team shake things up—but just a bit. It feels a tad daring given the venue, if not quite on par with LD’s inspired icky outings of yore.

“While we have a massive audience of loyal fans, the Super Bowl is a great opportunity to introduce ourselves to new people and educate everyone about our entire line of healthy beverages,” brand VP of creative Andy Pearson tells Muse.

“The Super Bowl is also the one time of year brands throw off their shackles and try to actually entertain people,” he says. “But most try to do it by showing how much money they can blow on VFX, celebrity cameos and famous songs. It’s sort of the action movie approach to making ads.”

“For us, it provides an interesting context to build a different kind of entertainment. When people are expecting to see a bunch of beer commercials, let’s parody that.”

Too bad they didn’t jump on the SB facial hair and body-parts bandwagon—with chainsaws. Ah well, Fox would’ve tossed a flag on that play.

(Which brand will take home the 2025 Super Clio for the Big Game’s best ad? We’ll find out on Feb. 10.)