AdMiration feature: Liquid Death’s “Ozzy Osbourne warns kids not to snort Liquid Death”

For this week’s AdMiration feature, we researched Liquid Death’s “Ozzy Osbourne warns kids not to snort Liquid Death.” Liquid Death released this campaign to promote its new Death Dust, a powdered electrolyte mix, which many fans on Instagram have suggested they could snort. Ozzy Osbourne was brought in to help spread the message that snorting Death Dust is not a good idea.

Read on to get our 3-2-1 snapshot of the ad (3 facts, 2 learnings and 1 reflection) and learn how their ad was received based on our data.

The ad opens to a boy pouring a pack of Death Dust into a reusable cup his friend is holding while ominous music and police sirens are heard in the background. They’re interrupted by Ozzy Osbourne who pulls up in a car and grabs their attention. Warning them about Death Dust he says: “Take it from me, don’t snort that stuff.” 

The boys tell him they weren’t planning on snorting it, but instead mixing it with water to hydrate as “it’s got electrolytes which your body needs.” They reassure Ozzy it’s delicious while he continues with his warning: “Whatever you do, don’t try freebrasing it, and never ever inject it.” The boys look highly confused and try to ask Ozzy what he means but he keeps going: “And don’t even think about boofing it, you little perverts.”

One of the boys, even more confused, asks him what boofing is and as Ozzy starts to explain the ad cuts to a sequence where the product is seen being opened and poured into water in a Liquid Death glass while rock music plays in the background. Above the image of a Death Dust drink mix variety pack a message appears: “It’s not drugs. It’s drink mix. 35 calories. 5 essential vitamins.” The ad concludes with Ozzy laughing as the car drives away and the boys are left behind completely puzzled.

3 facts

• The ad scores in the top 5% of all US ads in potential to drive short-term sales and in the top 30% in potential to drive brand equity and long-term sales. 

• It’s incredibly distinctive, with a provocative tone to capture the audience’s attention while using humor to drive emotional intensity throughout.

• Despite the comical delivery, people found the ad highly informative, making them want to buy Death Dust.

2 learnings

• Delivering multiple peaks of positive emotion throughout an ad is a great way to keep the audience engaged. When the elements that drive emotional peaks are linked to the brand or product message, it can boost the ad’s potential to drive sales.

• The use of a celebrity can solidify a brand identity in its early stages and help deliver a new product message effectively when the celebrity clearly embodies brand values. 

1 reflection

When advertising a new product, it’s paramount to express exactly what the product is and how it benefits the consumer. 

However, doing so in a way that captures the audience’s attention, emotionally engages with them and expresses the brand’s personality is significantly more likely to drive mental availability for both the brand and the new product. 

The ad scores in the top 5% of all US ads in potential to drive short-term sales (Sales Impact: 95) and in the top 30% in potential to drive brand equity and long-term sales (Brand Impact: 74). 

Liquid Death is known for their hard-hitting and provocative marketing, and this ad for their new Death Dust doesn’t fall short of that. It grabbed people’s attention straight away (claimed attention: 4.3 vs 3.9 norm), with a clear shot of Death Dust being poured into a cup, ominous music and police sirens in the background and the appearance of the notorious Ozzy Osbourne. 

It’s the most distinctive ad we’ve seen so far in our AdMiration series according to the audience, with 61% saying it’s “very different” from any other ad they’ve seen compared to a norm of 35% who say the same for the average US ad (ad distinctiveness: 4.5 vs 3.8 norm). It also makes the brand stand out vs others (brand distinctiveness: 4.1 vs 3.7 norm) and makes consumers feel like it couldn’t have been an ad for a different brand (uniqueness of brand impressions: 4.2 vs 3.9 norm). 

However, unaided brand recall was significantly below the norm for the average US ad (61% vs 68% norm). This is perhaps due to the fact that most US consumers report not having heard about the brand before and due to its target audience of Gen Z adults and younger Millennials. Nevertheless, people think it has great potential to be shared online (viral potential: 68 vs 56 norm), which is highly promising in helping boost awareness levels for the brand. 

The ad was highly enjoyable (enjoyment: 4.1 vs 3.9 norm), with huge peaks of laughter throughout which drove an emotional intensity score significantly outperforming the norm (emotional intensity: 20 vs 15 norm). Furthermore, 39% of the audience reacted to the ad overall with a laughter emoji vs a norm of 7% for the average US ad. 

Ozzy Osbourne was pivotal in driving this reaction as his misunderstanding of what the boys were doing was seen as highly entertaining. His role in the ad was completely understood by the audience given his persona and the appeal expressed towards him was significantly higher than that expressed for the average celebrity featuring in a US ad (celebrity appeal: 4.0 vs 3.5 norm). 

Naturally, given the predominant reference to drugs and how these might be taken, a third of the audience felt like some people might find the ad offensive or unpleasant. With a very rebellious approach to marketing and an unconventional tone to their communications, this isn’t a bad thing for the brand — it solidifies the Liquid Death brand identity. Had the ad not made some people feel slightly uncomfortable, they would be stepping away from the strategy that makes their brand and communications so unique. 

Despite this, most people were able to see the positive side of the ad. Beyond the praise for Ozzy and the overall humor of the ad, people loved the fact that while not being serious it managed to be highly informative. It was easy to understand, with 85% of the audience agreeing to this, and clearly communicated the functionality of a product most people hadn’t heard of before (new information: 4.2 vs 3.7 norm). 

Here’s what people had to say: 

"I love rock music so just the fact that Ozzy Osbourne was in the ad made me so happy. I also like to drink Liquid Death on the regular so I'm thrilled to know they have a drink powder coming out."

"I loved Ozzy and how out of control he was. That is right in with his image."

"The funny twist of Ozzy Osbourne warning the kids about drugs when it is just a sports drink"

"I thought the use of Ozzy Osbourne and the jokes were hysterical. It was also informative because I didn't know Liquid Death was in the electrolyte game. I thought it was just water previously."

"It was hilarious. I giggled while watching when Ozzy was saying these things and laughing himself. It was very entertaining."

"Using Ozzy in the commercial. Showing the product as a powder. The conversation was funny. It clears up what the product is."

"I like the fact that the guys are focused on the benefits of the product and basically looking at Ozzy Osborne like he’s a clueless fool."

Having a clear message of what the product is and the benefits it provides conveyed in such a playful way intrigues the audience and helps drive engagement with the brand. Before watching the ad, only 3% of the audience said they would purchase Liquid Death the next time they were buying a sports drink or mix; after watching the ad this rose to 31% (purchase uplift: 28% vs 19% norm). 

The most impactful element of this ad is the fact that the madness of Ozzy Osbourne and the humor he delivers doesn’t outshine the key product messages — they work in unison. 

We were curious to uncover the potential of Death Dust as a product in market based on consumer feedback, so we put it to the test through our advanced concept testing solution, Activate It.

Activate It is part of our end-to-end innovation suite and provides fast and actionable insights for mid to late-stage innovation. The system focuses on two key metrics to determine success: Trial Potential and Breakthrough Potential. While Trial Potential is based on the product’s purchase likelihood, Breakthrough Potential is defined by how different and superior the product is perceived to be versus what’s already available in the market.  

The combination of those scores places products within a classification grid to forecast their performance in market and advise on the best launch strategy.

Death Dust scored in the top 10% of all beverage concepts tested on breakthrough potential but in the bottom 40% in trial potential. It landed in the “seed and grow” area of our quadrant, meaning the product is seen as highly unique and distinctive but may not necessarily appeal to a mass audience. 

Given what we know about the brand’s level of awareness and their specific target audience, this makes perfect sense. Death Dust was seen as significantly more distinctive than other beverage innovations (distinctiveness T2B: 73% vs 66% norm), but less people claimed to be willing to purchase it vs the average beverage innovation in the US (purchase likelihood T2B: 50 vs 55% norm). 

However, looking at respondents by age groups, younger people were significantly more enticed by the product than older adults. Over two thirds of adults (68%) aged between 18 and 24 expressed interest in the product while only 34% of those aged over 45 said they would be willing to buy it. Those who engage with the brand at least on a quarterly basis or have bought electrolyte mixes in the last 3 months are also more enticed to purchase, with over three quarters claiming they would do so if available at a reasonable price. 

The great thing about the ad is that it reinforces the uniqueness of the product while reaching a broader audience. Over a third of the purchase uplift score seen from the ad was driven by adults over 45, showcasing the power of effective communication in driving engagement beyond the target audience. 

What a fun, yet informative, ad from Liquid Death!

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