I love Blake Lively. She's a sister in traveling pants, she's a gossiping girl, she wore suits like nobody's business in A Simple Favor. So it pains me to say that Blake Lively's new business is a line of fizzy water drink mixers. And that's...it? I hate to say it, but it almost makes me miss her e-commerce site Preserve.
Betty Buzz, Lively's newest venture, is described as "sparkling mixers crafted for your favorite spirits but tasty enough to fly solo." So, yeah, it's basically just LaCroix, but in glass bottles and, by my calculations, about seven times the cost. (Betty Buzz costs $29.99 for a 12 pack — about 28 cents per oz. — while a LaCroix 12 pack costs $3.99 for a 12 pack at Target — about 4 cents per oz.)
So, it's expensive, what celebrity product isn't? But for the price, you've got to be getting something special, something unique, something only Blake Lively in all her glory would release... right? Eh. The website touts Betty Buzz as having "only clean ingredients, no artificial flavors, gluten free, real juice, natural sweeteners," and of being "Vegan friendly, Kosher." So... it's Spindrift, but in glass bottles and more expensive? In the words of Lively herself, "at least it's not a celebrity alcohol."
But what's shocking about Betty Buzz isn't the price, or the fact that it's just fancy carbonated water, it's the flavors. Lively's brand is launching with five original flavors:
- Tonic Water
- Sparkling Lemon Lime
- Sparkling Grapefruit
- Meyer Lemon Club Soda
- Ginger Beer
Not even a basil thrown in there, or a guava mint combo. If the inebriated minds behind Loverboy can add a "kiss of chili," why can't Blake add a "fist bump of rosemary"?
According to her Instagram Stories announcing the launch, Lively spent three years working on Betty Buzz, which is reportedly named to honor her family (Betty is the name of her grandmother, aunt, and daughter). And in that time, she apparently tasted 17 versions of the Meyer Lemon Club Soda. And in all that time, nobody bothered to tell her that sparkling water already exists?
Of course, it's not surprising that Lively is coming out with her own brand of drinks. Celebrity alcohol brands are very à la mode nowadays, and even her husband, Ryan Reynolds, sells his own gin. Maybe it is actually a smart move for her to avoid spirits and go straight to the non-alcoholic bubbly. Just think of the celeb-powered mixed drinks this will bring!
Maybe this business isn't so basic after all (though those flavors most definitely are). If Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds are able to corner the gin and tonic market, just think of what they could do. As my colleague Caitlin Gallagher noted in our super-secret work slack, "Heaven forbid you put Ryan's gin in not Blake's tonic."
Yes, heaven forbid you ever taste a mixed drink that isn't blessed by Serena van der Woodsen and Deadpool. Nick Jonas and Kendall Jenner's Tequilas better watch out.
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Image: Blake Lively/Instagram