If anybody wears the label of “weird” as a badge of honor, it’s these two.
Canned tea maker Weird Beverages is teaming with our Editor-in-Chief’s favorite band, The Grateful Dead, to release a pair of new permanent flavors — Grateful Grapefruit and Mystical Mint — in its 16 oz. can Weird Yerba lineup starting on January 1.
In an email last week, Weird Beverages CEO Jason May explained that Ronnie Bruland, the company’s president of sales, was friends with a senior member of the band’s management group. After successfully pitching the idea for a collaborative release, Weird was granted licensing rights (via Rhino Entertainment) for exclusive use of the trademark — including the brand name, lightning-skull logo Stealie Rose and those iconic bears — in its categories of trade.
Along with deepening the brand’s cultural credibility, partnering with the Dead means integration with a seemingly unstoppable marketing machine that has generated millions of dollars (and continues to do so) over several decades via a range of merchandise — created with the likes of Nike, James Perse and others — while Dead-inspired bands like Dead & Company (which just finished its ‘final tour’ but kept the door open for reunions) keep raising the original group’s profile.
That potent combination of culture and commerce means Weird has “very high expectations for the collaboration,” according to May. Two products are fully resolved for 2024, along with some merchandise capsules and promotional materials, but a strong showing could lead to further work together down the road.
Just creating a single product inspired by a band which the Weird Tea team has “been attending shows since the ’80s” was “surreal,” May admits. Artist and designer Michael Sieben‘s take on the Dancing Bears, as seen on the two cans, gives a quick indication of how the two sides are aesthetically aligned. “Just looking at the initially produced sample cans has our whole crew’s minds spinning.”
“Very few musicians have had the global impact that they’ve had with their distinctive iconography, and we’re honored to contribute—even on the smallest level—to that cultural impact with this project,” he said. “It’s a perfect blend of weird meets weird, and if we can create new fans of the Grateful Dead then that’s a massive success.”
Note: This article was featured in BevNET’s Daily Briefing on November 15.