Taika Waititi Becomes Chief Creative of the Beverage Startup That Bears His Name

Taika Waititi had done his research, so he knew that his unusual first name had Scandinavian roots even though he’s a native New Zealander. He’d once searched for all the Taikas in the world through social media, with somewhat cringe-worthy results. “It was me and 36 Finnish girls,” the actor-director told Adweek. “I left that Facebook group pretty quick.” Nowhere in his hunt had he turned up a San Francisco-based company that makes premium coffee, tea and yerba mate drinks fortified with adaptogens. But a friend recently helped make the connection between Waititi and a startup called Taika. Sampling ensued, and a collaboration was born. Waititi, who has taken the reins as Taika’s chief creative officer, is now the public face of the nascent brand. In a quirky short film, he stars twice—as himself and an “everyday hater”—as part of Taika’s most significant marketing push to date. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzfKzMKBMb8 The tongue-in-cheek video plays off the word “taika,” which Waititi tells viewers means “big house,” “god-like person” and also “degenerate” in Japanese. But more to the point, it translates to “magic” in Finnish and manifests as “delicious creative fuel in a can.” The long-form ad, shot in a vintage 1970s-style house in Atlanta, has Waititi touting the functional ingredients of zero-sugar Taika while announcing his “very lucrative deal” with its maker, “a small, boutique mega-corp.” Too many tequilas There was no formal brief for the commercial, allowing Waititi to put his own twist on the creative, which was part of the appeal of the budding relationship, he said. Plus, so much of the heavy lifting had already been done on the branding side—Waititi was drawn to Taika’s minimalist packaging and irreverent personality. “I’ve always wanted to have a beverage of some sort,” Waititi said. “And there are too many vodkas and too many tequilas out there with celebrities attached. And this one already had my name on it.” Waititi, who said he has a history of coffee-crash napping on film sets, wanted to align with a health-conscious brand with ingredients like lion’s mane, theanine and ashwagandha. He has replaced his 2 p.m. caffeine with Taika, which he said has yielded better results in his productivity (and fewer photos of him sleeping in the workplace). The beverage’s positioning as a creativity booster also clicked with the TV and film director-producer behind such projects as Thor, Jojo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows, Reservation Dogs and Our Flag Means Death and ad campaigns for Belvedere vodka, Old Spice, Samsung and others. In addition to being the spokesman for Taika, Waititi will be involved in marketing strategy, product development and package design, among other duties. He envisions drinks for pre- and post-workout and for “chilling and winding down at night.” Taika Waititi isn't just the spokesman, he's also the chief creative officer for Taika's line of premium functional beverages. The launch of Waititi’s first ad for Taika coincides with a new distribution deal for the line, which now has five drinks. It recently added Sprouts Farmers Markets to its network, which includes Bristol Farms, Gelson’s, Erewhon, Ralph’s and BevMo! By year’s end the products will be available in about 4,000 U.S. retailers. A dream partnership Company leaders once thought that landing a deal with Waititi would be “totally unachievable,” even though they had “long fantasized about working with him,” according to CEO and co-founder Michael Sharon, a former Facebook executive. (The other half of the founding team, food scientist and renowned barista Kal Freese, is a native of Finland, which further explains the company name.) Taika has built its following mostly through grassroots marketing, word of mouth and extensive gifting, which Sharon called “an insider play” that started in the Silicon Valley tech hub. There was also a pandemic-era program that directed fans to text a phone number, then prominently displayed on cans, with brand ambassadors answering the texts and starting back-and-forth conversations. Sharon’s goal, along with demystifying compounds like cordyceps and reishi, is to expand Taika beyond the hacker community that first embraced it since its 2020 premiere. Daniel Craig Saves His Sweetest Moves for a Belvedere Spot Directed by Taika Waititi “There’s a misconception around creativity—that’s it’s only the domain of certain people,” Sharon said. “From our perspective, every single human being is creative.” Taika's early backers include notable people from both the business and creative worlds, including OneRepublic lead singer Ryan Tedder; Sophia Amoruso of fashion retailer Nasty Gal and coaching program Business Class; former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb; and Twitter founder Evan Williams. The company’s unofficial catchphrase, “stealth health,” intends to differentiate the products in the crowded market of canned teas, coffees and functional drinks. The focus is on taste first, Sharon said, with benefits running a close second. “We want people to get turned on by the taste, and then check the ingredients on the side of the cans,” Sharon said. “It’s all about making these compounds mainstream and easily accessible.”