Move Over Bud Light, Gay Water Is Here and It's Queer - INTO

Contents:

• CHARL BARKLEY FENDS LGBTQIA+ MUNY, BUD LIGHT EXPLETIVE-FILLED RANT: ‘IF YOU’RE GAY, GOD BLS YOU’
• NEW ‘GAY WATER’ LOOKS TO AVOID BUD LIGHT DISASTER
• COMPANY GO FULL-ON BUD LIGHT WH ‘GAY WATER’ RELEASE
• MOVE OVER BUD LIGHT, GAY WATER IS HERE AND IT’S QUEER
• EXPERIENC OF LIGHT GAY AND LBIAN NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENC
• CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

CHARL BARKLEY FENDS LGBTQIA+ MUNY, BUD LIGHT EXPLETIVE-FILLED RANT: ‘IF YOU’RE GAY, GOD BLS YOU’

Me unr fire for s ial silence regardg a Florida bill rtrictg classroom discsn of sexual orientatn and genr inty — dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by crics. Durg the tumult, Pixar employe lled out Disney executiv for cuttg “nearly every moment of overtly gay affectn” om the animatn stud’s films. 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.

NEW ‘GAY WATER’ LOOKS TO AVOID BUD LIGHT DISASTER

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. 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.”.

For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch.

COMPANY GO FULL-ON BUD LIGHT WH ‘GAY WATER’ RELEASE

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.

A new nned cktail lled Gay Water is lookg to attract LGBTQ drkers and avoid the pfalls of Bud Light’s disastro marketg partnership wh transgenr fluencer Dylan Mulvaney. The mixture of vodka and soda water, long known rmally as “gay water” the LGBTQ muny, is the brachild of 30-year-old gay entreprenr Spencer Hodson. He noted that the nctn aims “to stigmatize the word ‘gay’ by brgg reprentatn to spac that have not tradnally featured queer products, such as bars, liquor stor, grocery stor, rtrants, hotels and more.

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

Hodson, who is fancg Gay Water wh his own money pl backg om fay and iends, his brightly lored ns are leang to their gayns stead of avoidg . He told CNN that he worked wh a queer signer to base Gay Water’s red, purple, green and orange lor scheme on pop art and 1990s televisn shows om Nickeloon, a ble work for children.

“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.

EXPERIENC OF LIGHT GAY AND LBIAN NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENC

A statement on the Gay Water webse not that the word “gay” appears barely any products outsi of Pri Month each June. Acrdg to the statement, the new cktail reclaims the ia that “gay means happy.

Disney is a particularly pellg se, that ially remaed quiet about Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and was wily cricized for by LGBTQ groups and advot. Beyond the 2016 “Labels” spot, the Bud Light Party mpaign also clud a fun ad about gay weddgs. One newly lnched pany is releasg “Gay Water” a rponse to the backlash Bud Light suffered after partnerg wh transgenr TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.

Twelve ns of Gay Water n be purchased onle for a total of $36.

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

The pany also sells “Gay Water” tumblers and tcker hats. When you really thk about, how many products n you thk about that have ‘gay’ the tle? “gay [sic] water has always been a lloquialism for vodka soda, so surprise, that’s our re product.

However, we see ourselv as a liftyle brand here to brg back the origal fn of the word gay by puttg our products everywhere – your rtrant, your bar, your liquor store, your grocery store, and your home. ” Canned cktail ‘Gay Water’ aims to sh on Bud Light’s Dylan Mulvaney disaster — New York Post (@nypost) July 21, 2023 The pany’s founr, Spencer Hodson, told the New York Post that the backlash Bud Light suffered after s cisn to partner wh Mulvaney spir him to be more unapologetic his pro-LGBT stance.

*Photo cred: Gay Water via Instagram. 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.