“Gay is an umbrella term and the idea behind the brand is to be as inclusive as possible, which means we want allies, we want straight people to be part of this community we’re building.”įor now, Gay Water is sold largely online (with a few retailers) and comes in four sugar-free flavors - watermelon, lime, peach and grapefruit - at launch. “I wanted to build something that is queer and part of the community, but isn’t necessarily rainbows and unicorns that you see all around pride,” he said. He worked together with a queer designer creating the colorful packaging, which pulls inspiration from ’90s Nickelodeon shows and pop art. Hoddeson built up a strong social media following on TikTok and Instagram during Covid-19 and is using some of the money from that (as well as from friends and family) to help fund Gay Water. The two chatted about the limited amount of gay people within it, and with Hoddeson burnt out from his traditional day job in tech, started the canned cocktail. He thought of creating Gay Water about a year ago while on a vacation with his friend that had got a job within the beverage industry. “Putting a product with the word gay in the title is representation itself,” which he hopes reclaims the word from the negativity it’s sometimes associated with. “We’re creating a brand that creates representation, particularly in spaces where representation is lacking like liquor stores, bars, restaurants and grocery stores,” he said. It’s also one of the few openly queer-owned alcohol brands, which Hoddeson said sparked him to create because he wanted more representation in the category. The canned cocktail is named after a colloquialism given to the popular mixed drink (vodka and soda) ordered at bars by the gay community. Anheuser-Busch loses top LGBTQ+ rating over its Bud Light response
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