Why Liquid Death’s Greg Fass hates marketing

Growing up, Greg Fass was a counterculturist—a competitive snowboarder who developed a keen skepticism toward corporate brands hoping to cash in on his lifestyle. This is a sentiment he shares with many of his colleagues at canned water brand Liquid Death, who themselves are former punk rockers and skateboarders cut from similar cloth. “We actually hate marketing,” Fass said. “In our community, we had this deep distrust of corporate marketing because you had big brands coming in trying to win us over and doing it in laughable ways.” See all 40 Under 40 honorees here But while Fass, now 33, has since traded in his snowboard for the role of VP of marketing, his feelings haven’t changed, which might explain the anti-conventional thread running through his creative ads. This year’s efforts include a 43-minute flick called “Dead Till Death,” mutilated stuffed animals “killed” by pollution and a skateboard infused with Tony Hawk’s blood. Fass’ approach, like Liquid Death’s product, is painfully simple: to create hilarious entertainment for consumers. And if he does that right, Fass said, people will naturally want to incorporate the brand into their communities. If you could have dinner with one person, alive or dead, who would it be and why? My great-grandfather, Nathan Shapiro. I never had the chance to meet him, but he is the only other person in my family to ever move to California from the East Coast. He ended up moving back for the draft to NYC, where he met my great-grandmother and opened up a tailor shop on Broome Street. What are the top two social media sites you use on a regular basis? Instagram and TikTok. What’s currently on your bedside reading list? “Barbarian Days” by William Finnegan, “Dune” by Frank Herbert, “Educated” by Tara Westover and “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer. What was the last show you binge-watched? I recently rewatched the first season of “True Detective.” At what age do you hope to retire? I haven't really thought about it. My dad always told me you don't stop playing the game because you get old, you get old because you stop playing the game. So I'll probably always have something going on long after I'm “retired.” See all 40 Under 40 honorees here

Why Liquid Death’s Greg Fass hates marketing

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