Ugly Drinks (Discontinued)

Amidst the global pandemic of 2020, Ugly recently announced a new limited edition flavor program to help further drive the company’s DTC business. Today, we’re taking a look at three of these flavors, including Cherry Cola, Dr. Ugly and Orange Soda.

Despite leaning into classic soda flavors and branding, these products are zero calorie flavored sparkling waters just like the rest of the Ugly family. They are unsweetened and are simply a blend of sparkling water and natural flavors.

So, how do soda flavored sparkling water beverages taste? Fortunately for Ugly, quite good. This is only the second time that we can recall seeing cola as a sparkling water (the first being LaCroix’s “Nicola”) and with the added cherry flavoring, it’s shocking how close Cherry Cola tastes to the real thing. We’d say the same for Dr. Ugly, which is a near dead ringer for Dr Pepper, and Orange Soda, which is reminiscent of Sunkist orange soda. 

Given that these products lack the sweeteners that you’ll find in their traditional soda counterparts, be it sugar, high fructose corn syrup or a zero calorie sweetener, they are much lighter in body and are quite crushable and refreshing. 

These products present an interesting opportunity: They definitely feel like a pretty neat alternative for the diet soda drinker, but it also gives other consumers the ability to enjoy cola and other soda flavors without the calories and sugar. 

While these flavors are limited edition, they certainly feel like something that could be broken out into its own sub-line of sorts. The market for these flavors as CSDs is still quite massive and they definitely translate to sparkling water quite nicely. Plus, it seems like a better approach than continuing to add fruit flavors to the line until the brand reaches the realm of the esoteric. 

As for the packaging and branding, these products utilize a blank can and a short run adhesive label. The label itself is the same blue that’s used on Ugly’s flagship line. The label format otherwise follows the same approach of having the Ugly logo running vertically down the front of the can with a chat bubble style callout for the flavor name. On the side is a large “U” icon and the tagline “get real, get Ugly.”  It’s eye-catching, polished, fun, and, most importantly, memorable. 

Flavored sparkling water brand Ugly is back with two new flavors: Pink Grapefruit and Pina Colada. The new additions follow the same format and style as the rest of the Ugly lineup and are packaged in bright blue 12 oz cans.

Flavorwise, these products deliver. Pink Grapefruit has a bright, fresh flavor that’s both accurate and clean. Pina Colada has distinguishable notes of pineapple and coconut but avoids having a candy like flavor, as pina colada flavored beverages sometimes do.

Still, we’re talking about natural flavors in a flavored sparkling water. Aside from the few products out there that are using actual fruit juice, most sparkling waters aren’t going to win you over on taste alone. And while these and the rest of the Ugly line can definitely hold their own in terms of flavor with the best of them in the category, there’s another element that definitely makes Ugly stand out: the brand.

Building on what we said in our initial review, the genius of Ugly is the combination of their distinct brand identity and how it is visually executed. It feels very much like the anti-sparkling water in that regard. Ugly has a bright, modern aesthetic that’s attached to a playful, light, and almost self-deprecating personality that’s not trying to sell you on the quality of the water, flavors, or anything else that’s inside the can. It’s just fun, innocuous, and good quality refreshment.

To that end, these two flavors broaden the scope of that original mission. These two new flavors put the line at six total SKUs, which seems like a good spot for the brand to be about a year since launching in the U.S..

Overall, Pink Grapefruit and Pina Colada are welcome and well-executed additions to Ugly’s lineup for the U.S. market.

Originally launched in the U.K. a few years ago, Ugly Drinks, which is a line of zero calorie flavored sparkling waters, has now launched in the U.S. with an updated look and formulations that were adjusted for the U.S. market (the product is also produced in the U.S.).

The initial U.S. rollout includes three flavors: Lemon Lime, Peach, and Cherry. The products are packaged in 12 oz. cans that feature a bright blue backdrop and a white logo that looks like graffiti. Thanks to these bright graphics and a color palette that’s unique as far as the sparkling water set goes, the product most definitely stands out.

We’d say the same for the brand itself, which uses a word that typically has a negative connotation and recasts it in a playful and approachable way. This, too, is a very different approach to the products that Ugly competes with, which are typically named in a safer and softer way.

That said, this product feels very much like something that’s going to skew towards a younger demographic and probably won’t -- at least initially -- compete with the full scope of the market in which many established brands play.. It’s an interesting strategy and one that should, if nothing else, allow Ugly to be focused in how it finds its foot in the door.

Inside the can, they’ve done a nice job with the three flavors. There isn’t anything super groundbreaking about the liquid, although straight cherry and peach aren’t standard flavors (whereas lemon lime is very much the staple of the category) for sparkling water brands with mass distribution. While Ugly can definitely stand up to the competition in terms of taste, taste alone isn’t the reason that consumers are likely to latch on to Ugly.

Instead, the success or failure of Ugly is very much going to be about the brand itself. Having rebranded from a more reserved (but still colorful) package to one that cuts through the visual clutter of the category and feels in-your-face, the company seems to realize this. “Ugly” catches your eye and is a conversation starter that will probably lure people in to try it -- and the liquid is good enough to keep them coming back for more.