The water bottle trend has gone too far

0:00 Water bottles.

0:01 At one point in time, they were a functional tool,

0:03 [music] a revolutionary invention that allowed you to, get

0:07 this, take [music] water with you everywhere you go.

0:13 But you may have noticed something different lately.

0:15 Water bottles have evolved well beyond their original

0:17 design to be something much more, a status symbol.

0:20 Water bottle brands now compete in a cutthroat [music] industry to meet

0:23 your hydration needs and more so your need to fit in.

0:27 Have you ever seen one of these?

0:28 This looks like it'll change my life.

0:29 I got a Stanley.

0:31 Pick your color, your brand, your style.

0:33 Get the holiday edition, collect all [music] 10 to match each outfit.

0:37 What started as a trend towards better wellness and a more

0:40 sustainable future has turned [music] into the exact opposite.

0:43 A way to signal belonging and fuel waste.

0:46 In the process, it's revealed a lot about how trends [music] rise and fall,

0:50 the many problems with consumerism today,

0:52 and the small but meaningful ways we can resist it.

0:56 This video is sponsored by Squarespace.

0:58 More on [music] them later.

0:59 So, if you're like 60% of Americans, you've got a water bottle.

1:02 But the real question is, which kind?

1:04 [clears throat] The water bottle sitting on your desk

1:06 right now says more about you than you might realize.

1:10 A rugged insulated metal bottle might suggest that you're outdoorsy.

1:14 A large-handed cup with a sippy straw might communicate comfort,

1:17 coziness, and routine.

1:18 A sleek monochrome one might signal that you're an intentional consumer,

1:22 someone who cares about their things and the environment.

1:25 [music] Yes, even minimalists have their water bottle of choice.

1:28 These small details, the color, the size, the shape of the lid,

1:31 and the logo have all become very important of late.

1:35 And it's all very, very stupid.

1:37 I mean, the more that I looked into this trend,

1:39 the less hope I had for civilization.

1:41 Like, I don't know how we got to the place

1:44 where we've turned a reusable water bottle into a collector's item.

1:48 I found videos online where people had walls filled with different colors.

1:54 People who had accumulated hundreds

1:56 of bottles spending thousands of dollars again

1:59 on empty round cylinders that hold water or for some people boxed wine.

2:05 This is one of the craziest consumer trends that I've ever seen.

2:08 And at first glance, it doesn't make any sense.

2:11 But once you start to dig a little bit deeper, it kind of does.

2:14 In hindsight, it's easy to see why the water bottle trend took off.

2:17 In the 2010s, we [music] simultaneously started to see the rise

2:20 of the wellness economy and the importance of sustainability on consumers.

2:24 [music] Plastics became the enemy.

2:26 Disposables were shunned.

2:28 And so, this [music] need for these more

2:30 enduring products became really important to people.

2:34 People signaled these virtues in different ways.

2:36 Instead of wearing jeans and a t-shirt,

2:37 women started to wear yoga pants and a sports bra.

2:40 Instead of shopping purely for price, people gravitated towards brands

2:43 with minimalist aesthetics and conscious messaging.

2:46 And of course, instead of grabbing a plastic water bottle,

2:48 they carried around a reusable one wherever they went.

2:51 When you kept a reusable water bottle on you,

2:53 specifically a trendy bottle, it said, "I'm healthy.

2:58 I'm stylish.

2:59 I hydrate." One of the first trendy water

3:01 bottle brands to take hold on consumers was Swell.

3:04 In 2010, their founder, Sarah [music] Kouse,

3:07 decided to reinvent the way we drink water.

3:09 Okay, not really.

3:10 In reality, she just slapped a new design on it.

3:12 But their mission was altruistic, to save the planet.

3:15 The mission of Swell is to get single-use disposable

3:19 beverage containers out of landfills and out of the ocean.

3:22 And that mission would not falter.

3:23 Not for growth, not for profit, not for, oh, wait, a year later,

3:26 they changed their mind and tried to sell as many water bottles as possible,

3:29 regardless of the environmental impact.

3:30 Our customers love [music] to collect them.

3:32 We found that the average customer that has a Swell

3:34 at home has 5 and a half bottles at home.

3:36 I don't know what's more impressive,

3:38 the fact that they went from $3 million in revenue to 100

3:40 million in just a few years or that they sold half bottles.

3:44 I don't think anyone could have seen what came next, the water bottle wars.

3:48 As with any [music] breakout trend,

3:50 one brand breaks through and suddenly everyone wants in.

3:53 New companies scrambled for market share,

3:55 legacy brands reinvented themselves, and the category completely shifted.

3:59 So many of these different brands had their moment.

4:01 [music] Yeti, Hydro Flask, Frank Green, Stanley, and countless others.

4:05 Very quickly, reusable water bottles went from being optional to a must-have.

4:09 Today, there is an arsenal of options.

4:12 It's almost [music] like a status symbol.

4:13 Yeah, you don't need a BMW anymore, Julie.

4:15 You just need the right water bottle.

4:17 Thanks to Uncle Capitalism, it didn't stop at bottles.

4:20 Brands soon introduced different straws and straw lids, accessories and boots.

4:25 Yes, those are little protectors to, god forbid,

4:28 prevent your water bottle from getting dented on the bottom.

4:30 The fad seemed destined to happen sooner or later,

4:33 but that didn't stop marketers from doing everything they could to blow

4:36 up the trend even more to maximize profits to sell as many bottles,

4:40 boots, and useless accessories as possible.

4:43 Their favorite strategies included

4:45 scarcity marketing, hype drops, collab seasonal colors.

4:48 People don't just own one, they have multiples.

4:51 These strategies, which are common across industries,

4:54 are designed to create a sense of urgency that drives you to make a purchase.

4:58 They could make 10,000 bottles, but they choose to make 500 because they know it

5:02 will trigger your deeply buried [music] psychological triggers to belong,

5:06 fit in, and secure a scarce resource,

5:09 even when that resource is actually abundant and completely arbitrary.

5:12 The real brilliance of their marketing isn't just

5:14 that it gets you to act with urgency, but also the fact that it gets you

5:18 to buy the same product over [music] and over again.

5:22 Levi Hildebrandt has talked at length about

5:24 the many different cycles of the water

5:25 bottle trends that have come and gone over the past few [music] years.

5:28 He pointed out exactly why these companies focus on these same strategies.

5:32 There's actually a pretty obvious reason why.

5:35 It costs money to improve a design or add a feature.

5:38 It costs even more money to release a new bottle or product,

5:41 but it costs basically nothing [music] to release

5:44 the same bottle in an infinite number of colors.

5:47 It's kind of the only way to sell water

5:49 bottles after somebody has already bought one from you.

5:52 I bought every Stanley [music] cup ever made.

5:55 Today, me and my sisters are going to unbox the first Stanley

5:58 ever made all the way to the most wanted Stanley that was $1,500.

6:04 Now, I know what you're thinking.

6:05 These people are very dumb and they are making very dumb decisions.

6:10 But these kinds of design trends are so embedded in our culture

6:13 that even if you don't think you care about them, you kind of do.

6:17 To help illustrate this point, let's look at Stanley.

6:20 For decades, the brand had a clear identity and a loyal customer base.

6:24 People who wanted rugged, durable gear built for work.

6:27 But after influencers, social media users, and celebrities like Olivia Rodrigo

6:31 started carrying these oversized bottles everywhere,

6:34 the brand pivoted hard to keep up with the trend.

6:37 something that's really had been targeted toward outdoorsmen

6:40 is now being targeted toward young people and parents.

6:43 So, it's really come a long way just leaning into that virality.

6:47 Now, that couldn't possibly impact the loyal Stanley users,

6:50 those who identify themselves as being rugged outdoorsmen.

6:53 Would it consider this comment on a recent

6:55 video from Levi about the water bottle trend?

6:58 My husband has a Stanley cup he's used for ages.

7:01 He works in construction and now he's embarrassed to leave the house with it.

7:05 It seems that even construction workers care

7:07 about what their water bottle says about them, even if it says, "Hey,

7:10 I don't care about trends." The whole water bottle fad is a great example

7:14 of why consumer trends take hold and why it's happening more and more lately.

7:19 At its core, it's really nothing more than lifestyle branding.

7:22 Lifestyle branding is a marketing approach [music] where a product is

7:25 marketed much less on its functional features and more on the feelings,

7:29 values, and aspirations associated with using it.

7:31 [music] The product becomes a shortcut for expressing who you are.

7:35 Luggage brands with muted [music] color palettes.

7:37 Toothbrushes that look like they belong in an Apple store.

7:40 Even simple homegoods, trash bins, fans, kettles,

7:43 and garden hoses are now built [music] more around aesthetics than function.

7:47 These products don't succeed because they solve

7:49 a new problem or introduce groundbreaking [music] technology.

7:52 They break through the noise because of the way

7:54 they look and how they allow people to express themselves.

7:56 [music] Okay, sure, some of the water bottle brands

7:58 did introduce a sippy straw or a one-handed flip feature,

8:01 but this wasn't exactly the light bulb.

8:04 This kind of marketing and specifically

8:05 a culture that has decided that everything

8:08 in their home and everything they own needs to fit a certain

8:11 aesthetic has led to an even bigger problem and one that might hit

8:15 a little bit too close to home for people who call themselves minimalists.

8:19 Listen, I know exactly what you're thinking right now.

8:21 This whole water bottle thing could make me very rich.

8:25 So, if you want to try to disrupt the market yourself,

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9:49 The more I looked into the water bottle trend, the more one problem stood out.

9:53 Once a functional item becomes a part of a design trend,

9:56 it's only a matter of time before the trend fades.

9:59 And when that happens, instead of a tool, it becomes an outdated accessory.

10:04 I think this is exactly why we've seen so many water bottle brands come and go.

10:08 Products that were once meant to be used, beaten up,

10:12 dented, and even passed down are suddenly being treated as disposable.

10:17 It's not just about water bottles.

10:19 We live in a culture that is

10:20 obsessed with putting together the perfect aesthetic.

10:23 Since [music] we're letting everyone into our homes with social media,

10:26 everything we share has to be curated and designed

10:28 in a way that lets people know that we belong.

10:31 Look at luggage, coffee mugs, homegoods, furniture, garden tools.

10:35 Everyday items that used to serve a purpose are

10:37 now caught up in the churn of design trends.

10:40 When the design becomes just as important as the function,

10:43 people with the money and desire to fit in will happily

10:45 toss aside perfectly good things in favor of the latest drop.

10:49 I'm not claiming to be above any of this.

10:51 I mean, I've fallen for lifestyle marketing myself.

10:54 I mean, I call myself a minimalist.

10:56 How can I not?

10:57 While minimalism itself is obviously supposed to be about

10:59 living intentionally and finding meaning in living with less,

11:02 it's also usually very much about the aesthetics.

11:05 While I get that some people find it boring,

11:07 I like this kind of monochrome look.

11:10 I find the simplicity of it calming, peaceful,

11:13 and a perfect antidote to how loud our online world has become.

11:16 But now that I've been practicing minimalism for over 14 years,

11:19 I've also found another thing to be true.

11:22 The perfect aesthetic does not hold up.

11:24 Even items that you cherish and treat with care will eventually wear down.

11:29 Things are meant to be used.

11:30 While I've always tried to work on this, I think having

11:33 kids has definitely helped me embrace this a little bit more.

11:35 [music] But since kids are expensive and timeconuming

11:38 and you may not want to have them for yourself,

11:40 there's another thing that's also helped me

11:42 and it's this idea of buy it for life.

11:45 [music] This growing philosophy that you may have

11:47 heard about pushes back against trends and fast consumption.

11:51 It encourages you to make purchases more carefully.

11:53 sometimes investing more money into your everyday items,

11:56 choosing products that are well-made,

11:58 durable, and repable, and then using them for as long as you possibly can.

12:03 Not only is choosing buy it for life items better for your wallet long-term,

12:07 not needing to replace these things year over year,

12:09 but it's better for the environment as well.

12:11 In a world built on planned obsolescence and endless new options,

12:16 buy it for Life is the best way I've

12:17 found to push back against all of this craziness.

12:20 At this point, you're probably wondering, "Hey, Matt,

12:22 what kind of water bottle do you have?" Uh, it's this one.

12:27 It's a trendy water bottle here in Australia.

12:29 Uh, I want to be very clear.

12:30 My wife bought this for me as a gift after I misplaced my last one.

12:34 At the time, I didn't realize that it was trendy.

12:37 I hadn't made this video yet.

12:38 I hadn't looked into the topic at all.

12:41 But now that I know a little better, I kind of understand what that construction

12:45 worker was talking about when he said he can't go out in public anymore

12:48 with his Stanley mug because uh how how embarrassing.

12:52 By the way, Nat, uh I love the gift.

12:54 It was it's amazing and it was so thoughtful.

12:57 Like it's No, but really um I could care less that this is a popular brand.

13:03 It's a bottle that holds water and I'm going

13:06 to continue to use it long after it's no longer trendy.

13:09 Let this be a reminder.

13:11 Whether the water bottle on your desk is trendy or a cheap nameless brand,

13:15 whether it tells the world that you're a minimalist

13:17 or a construction worker with a huge impact driver,

13:20 let it also tell the world something else.

13:22 I've only got one of these.