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Former Verizon and Yahoo marketing executive Spencer Hoddeson launched a canned cocktail named Gay Water on Thursday, July 20, 2023. The US startup made the vodka and soda-based drink available in four different flavors.
Spencer said that their venture strives to normalize the use of the term ‘gay’ without any derogation linked to it. They aim to do it by making the canned drink visible on a regular basis at restaurants, bars, pubs, grocery stores, liquor stores, and homes. He added that rather than pushing the word back into the closet, it needs to be reclaimed by using and owning it.
The launch came just a few months after the Bud Light controversy surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. The conservatives targeted the beer brewer for partnering with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney and went on a hate campaign for the brand as well as every other company showing their support for the queer community.
They even called for boycotting the beer brewer, with the public destroying hundreds of Bud Light cans. In response to a tweet claiming that Gay Water wants to be anti-Bud Light, one user @Teknition_1 wrote that the new beverage is Bud Light in a different can.
Social media users react to entrepreneur Spencer Hoddeson launching "Gay Water" canned cocktail
Many responded to the launch of Spencer Hoddeson's canned alcoholic beverage by bringing up Bud Light. Some asked the point of this canned drink by naming it Gay Water since Bud Light is already there, implying that Bud's beer is gay drink.
Spencer Hoddeson about his new business venture
Gay Water's founder, Spencer Hoddeson, said that the name of the alcoholic beverage has been based on an American colloquial term for the mixture of vodka and soda. He also noted that he produced the drink as a response to the lack of queer representation. Hoddeson said:
“Growing up, I only ever heard the word gay in a negative context. As camp as the Hilary Duff, ‘That’s So Gay’ PSA has now become, it rings true to the experience that I and many other queer millennials felt in their most formative years – the word ‘gay’ was a bad one.”
He referred to Bud Light’s tie-up with Dylan Mulvaney that led to the beer brewer’s sales declining by nearly 25%, further saying:
“This will probably change our marketing — and maybe even distribution — strategy. But not in the ways you may think. It will fuel us. We are a brand that is unafraid to fight for our community.”
Gay Water is offering four flavors of the cocktail, grapefruit, watermelon, peach, and lime. The canned drink will be available in a variety of 12-pack, which are priced at $36.50. A lime pack of six has already been sold out. In addition to that, the variety packs can be ordered online.
Since it has just been launched, the brand is yet to branch out to brick-and-mortar stores. The company is offering to ship its drinks to 35 states. They have asked their customers to expect a little delay in shipping since the company is settling in.
