People at the Car Free Day festival in Vancouver saw plenty of good food for sale from street vendors — but there was one beverage being sold that they’ll probably never forget.
A booth at the annual festival peddled something called Hõt Dõg Water, complete with a fancy-looking banner and a mascot dressed as a hot dog.
When intrigued potential customers walked up to the booth, they saw impressive bottles of water with hot dogs floating in them. The price for a bottle of Hot Dog Water? $37.99 Canadian, or about $28.57 in American dollars!
A festival in Vancouver is selling bottled hot dog water for $38.
Look out, Kombucha, there's a new millennial drink fad brewing. pic.twitter.com/EeWPztE4LM
—
Sexy Ben
(@browland1) June 21, 2018
Why would anyone pay for water that tastes like a frankfurter? Because it helps you lose weight, of course!
The product’s marketing materials claimed that “unfiltered” Hot Dog Water is gluten-free, compatible with the popular keto diet, will help the drinker increase brain function, look younger and have more vitality. One testimonial quote for the drink even hailed it as “the NEW coconut water.”
But, wait, this can’t be serious, right?
Of course not.
The entire Hot Dog Water booth was an elaborate interactive art display meant to “encourage critical thinking” when it comes to product marketing, according to the last paragraph of the text in the photo above: “Hot Dog Water in its absurdity hopes to encourage critical thinking related to product marketing and the significant role it can play in our purchasing choices.”
The booth’s operator, artist/”Hot Dog Water CEO” Douglas Bevans, told Canada’s Global News that he was poking fun at the business of fad diets and wellness programs not backed by science.
“It’s really sort of a commentary on product marketing, and especially sort of health-quackery product marketing,” he told the news outlet.
According to the Global News, the impressive display cost Bevans about $1,200 of his own money, as well as about $500 from grants. In the end, he said he sold about 60 bottles of Hot Dog Water at the festival!
Hopefully this creative stunt will make consumers think again before paying a ton of money for products whose packaging is packed with marketing buzzwords, but no science. (And we truly hope a taste for real hot dog water doesn’t catch on!)
RELATED: Okay, we know that Hot Dog Water isn’t real… but these edible water pods totally are!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
