Featured image for How Do You Do Fellow Kids? Gen Z Water's Design Hits Different, FR

How Do You Do Fellow Kids? Gen Z Water's Design Hits Different, FR

by Rudy Sanchez on 11/10/2022 | 2 Minute Read

Water is pretty simple. It’s H2O, practically flavorless hydration. But when it comes to packaged water, we might grab something that tries to signal something about us.

Liquid Death is an excellent example of that. Sure, it’s Alpine water that’s tasty, but the kids love that it’s in aluminum cans instead of plastic bottles, and the whole metal aesthetic is most excellent, so kids like my nephews drink it up, literally. Of course, the thirst killers at Liquid Death are hardly the first beverage brand to leverage youth-targeted marketing into big sales. And now there’s a new contender in the water game that isn’t bashful about its market ambitions called Gen Z Water.

Editorial photograph

Gen Z Water bills itself as water “for people that have never owned a flip phone” and water “made by real boomers.” Branding, including the wonderfully delightful and vintage internet website, is designed by the agency Day Job that's reminiscent of Geo Cities pages (ask your closest millennial elder about it). It also comes chock full of gifs and low-bandwidth goodness, including a MIDI instrumental of Wham!’s “Careless Whisper.”

Topped with aluminum caps, the refillable aluminum bottles follow that same 90s-00s internet look as the website. There are currently two bottle designs; Welcome to the Ocean and Welcome to the Grotto. Both feature 90s-style computer graphics, including a sassy orangutan called Sally holding a rose lounging next to a boombox (a thing we used to use to listen to music outside before Bluetooth speakers).

Editorial photograph

What's great, however, is that Gen Z cares about packaging and is turning to more sustainably bottled drinks like water in aluminum cans and bottles. Gen Z Water’s branding could come off as pandering or appearing slightly chuegy, but it’s sincere enough to be self-aware, so no cap. Though it makes me personally feel old AF, the 90s-00s visual identity is vintage and fun. This geriatric millennial approves.

Gen Z Water is available online and in-store.


Images courtesy of Gen Z.