Liquid Death and Garage Beer have teamed up for a new campaign that takes aim at the water consumption associated with artificial intelligence data centres, using an unconventional call for consumers to donate urine as an alternative cooling source.
The campaign features former NFL player and Garage Beer co-owner Jason Kelce alongside Liquid Death’s Murder Man mascot. Built around the two brands’ established use of irreverent humour, the activation turns concerns about AI infrastructure into the premise for a 90-second music video.
The video opens with Kelce urinating into a container while explaining the amount of water required to cool AI data centres. He is later joined by the Liquid Death mascot and a group of participants carrying containers as they perform a deliberately exaggerated song asking people to contribute their urine.
The campaign also promotes a fictional-style product called the “Coolant Collector”, which encourages consumers to collect urine and send it to an AI data centre of their choice.
The creative will run across Liquid Death and Garage Beer’s social media channels with paid support, as well as on connected television.
While the concept is intentionally provocative, it draws on wider discussion about the resource requirements of expanding AI infrastructure. Data centres require water for some cooling systems, although consumption varies substantially depending on facility design, location, cooling technology and operating conditions.
The campaign initially emerged from conversations around a retail partnership between Liquid Death and Garage Beer. The companies had explored opportunities to package their products together before developing the collaboration into a larger marketing activation.
Andy Pearson, vice president of creative at Liquid Death, said the company saw similarities between the brands, including their independent positioning and use of comedy to reach mainstream audiences.
The data centre concept originated in a Liquid Death writers’ room, which includes external comedians and writers. Comedian Sabrina Jalees developed the initial idea before it was adapted for the Garage Beer collaboration. Audio company Butter composed the campaign’s music.
The creative also draws inspiration from large-scale benefit songs and public campaigns from the 1980s, including Live Aid and Hands Across America. The brands use that familiar format while replacing its earnest tone with deliberately crude humour.
Garage Beer CEO Andy Sauer said the collaboration was aligned with the two companies’ similar approaches to marketing and gave them an opportunity to combine their brand personalities in an unexpected format.
Kelce provides another connection between the brands. The former Philadelphia Eagles player is a co-owner of Garage Beer and has previously worked with Liquid Death, while his wife, Kylie Kelce, has also appeared in a Liquid Death campaign.
The activation arrives as public debate around AI expands beyond issues such as jobs, misinformation and copyright to include the physical infrastructure required to operate AI systems. Marketing Dive cited Gallup polling showing that more than seven in 10 Americans opposed the construction of AI data centres in their local area.
For Liquid Death and Garage Beer, the campaign turns that debate into a brand collaboration built around humour rather than presenting itself as a technical solution to data centre water consumption.
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