As Major Brands Waver, Gay Water Aims for Authenticy

Contents:

• INFLUENCER TURNED ENTREPRENR HOP TO RECLAIM THE WORD ‘GAY’ WH GAY WATER DRK
• MOVE OVER BUD LIGHT, GAY WATER IS HERE AND IT’S QUEER
• ‘GAY WATER’ IS A NEW VODKA SODA STARTUP WH A MISSN TO CELEBRATE LGBTQ+ INTY
• AS MAJOR BRANDS WAVER, GAY WATER AIMS FOR AUTHENTICY
• CANNED COCKTAIL GAY WATER AIMS TO RIGHT BUD LIGHT'S LACK OF LGBTQ+ SUPPORT
• FABULO FIZZ: D2C HARD SELTZER BRAND GAY WATER COM OUT
• CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER
• GAY WATER - TRAMARK INFORMATN

INFLUENCER TURNED ENTREPRENR HOP TO RECLAIM THE WORD ‘GAY’ WH GAY WATER DRK

In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.

Gay Water, however, is out and proud. The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny. “Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh.

He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry. The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail.

MOVE OVER BUD LIGHT, GAY WATER IS HERE AND IT’S QUEER

Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water. “Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.

‘GAY WATER’ IS A NEW VODKA SODA STARTUP WH A MISSN TO CELEBRATE LGBTQ+ INTY

For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.

Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. Influencer turned CEO Spencer Hodson has lnched Gay Water wh the hop of reclaimg the word ‘gay’. He soon grew a followg on social media wh his relatable ntent on what datg is like as a gay lennial.

AS MAJOR BRANDS WAVER, GAY WATER AIMS FOR AUTHENTICY

While on holiday wh a iend, Hodson orred a vodka soda and asked his iend if she knew that olr generatns referred to the drk as “gay water.

Gay Water is a nned vodka soda that is now available the Uned Stat. Through Gay Water, Hodson aspir to drive posive change through shared valu. As Gay Water mak s but the Uned Stat, the brand is aimg to foster a sense of belongg and celebratn for the LGBTQ+ muny and s alli.

Hodson hop that Gay Water will help to -stigmatise the word and “create reprentatn spac that tradnally don’t have queer-owned products. Gay Water is lnchg the USA.

CANNED COCKTAIL GAY WATER AIMS TO RIGHT BUD LIGHT'S LACK OF LGBTQ+ SUPPORT

“The word ‘gay’ origally was fed as happy, ” he ntu, “and we’re hopg to remd folks of that by beg visible to queer people areas where they don’t have muny or feel supported. On s ial lnch, Gay Water be available 35 stat – cludg Florida, Tennsee and Kansas – all stat that have recently troduced ntroversial anti-LGBTQ+ legislatn.

*Photo cred: Gay Water via Instagram.

FABULO FIZZ: D2C HARD SELTZER BRAND GAY WATER COM OUT

Where Bud Light sks, Gay Water ris to the ocsn.

On Thursday, the brightly-packaged nned alholic beverage Gay Water lnched s way to happy hours. Named after the nickname given to the vodka and soda bo that’s equently orred gay bars, Gay Water wants to be the drk of choice for the queer muny.

Spencer Hodson, a gay man, created the product wh the LGBTQ+ muny md. Hodson created Gay Water to be out, loud, and proud. And while Gay Water’s four sugar-ee flavors, watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu, n be purchased select retailers, Gay Water’s reach is expand through onle sal.

CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self. Sometim great ias start om vatn nversatns, as did the creatn of Gay Water. Wh that, Hodson believ that ’s “exactly the right time” to enter Gay Water to the market.

Gay Water is here to turn the tis wh a premixed cktail that was tentnally signed for everyone.

It's no secret that vodka sodas have bee somewhat of a stereotype the gay muny when to bellyg up to the bar.

GAY WATER - TRAMARK INFORMATN

For years, brands like To's and Absolut have domated the market for pris, but one gay founr is shakg up the spir world wh a new big gay Water, found by Spencer Hodson, is a nned vodka soda and liftyle brand curated by and for the queer Water founr, Spencer Hodson“I was on a trip wh a girliend who was talkg about a job that she had jt gotten the beverage dtry, and we were havg drks, ” he said. “I orred a vodka soda and turned to her and asked, ‘Did you know that wh the queer muny, typilly an olr generatn of gay men, vodka soda is referred to as gay water?

”Hodson, who had already been toyg wh the ia of creatg his own beverage product, said he followed the gay water ia down the rabb hole to see where would lead Febary of 2022, Hodson has been htg the pavement wh his new pany, while workg a full-time gig and nsistently curatg ntent for TikTok and Instagram. Most people will know him as @hoddspenrs on TikTok, and he hop the queer muny will help lnch Gay Water forward. ” Although the popular ntent creator lov his privacy, he also knows that at some pot, people wh platforms need to e them for the greater good, or gay.

And the gays™ love a lorful Gay Water founr said he worked wh a queer signer, Hawaiian native Ryan Sagawa, for all thgs brandg, om the logo to the lors. “But I would say, took like three to four months on the brand inty work — I really wanted to create an inty for the brand through the logo, through the lors, that really was reflective of the muny, whout necsarily leang only towards gay men. ”There is power creatg a mastream brand that has “gay” the name.