Vita Coco Will Help Cure Post-2020 Hangovers at Home

Some folks who wake up on Jan. 1, 2021 will have a literal hangover from drinking to ring in the new year. But it's fair to say most of us will have a hangover in some sense from experiencing a relentlessly terrible 2020. No matter the reason, Vita Coco aims to make it an easier New Year’s Day—which also happens to be National Hangover Day. The beverage brand will launch a cross-channel campaign on Jan. 1 to show how its coconut water can help alleviate hangover woes. The campaign extends Vita Coco’s 2020 New Year’s Day activation, which delivered free hangover kits via Postmates to New Yorkers. Senior brand director Allison Finazzo told Adweek that National Hangover Day provides an opportunity for the brand to offer lighthearted fun as well as value to consumers. “In the past, National Hangover Day really only represented New Year’s Eve and the celebrations that ensued,” Finazzo said. “But, considering that 2020 was an absolute rollercoaster that gave us a reason to feel hungover every day, we knew we had to show up for people in a bigger and better way. So, we’re giving people more ways to settle in and recover at home.” Venmo users will have access to branded National Hangover Day stickers on Jan. 1. Once again, the campaign includes a Postmates partnership that will give consumers in Manhattan and Los Angeles a chance to score free, limited-edition hangover kits through the delivery app. Delivered on a first-ordered, first-served basis, the kits are filled with items meant to help folks deal with their hangovers, including a breakfast sandwich; branded socks; webcam cover; head scratcher; earplugs; Banila Skincare products; a free monthlong trial of Obé Fitness; and, of course, coconut water. For each kit ordered, the brand will also donate $5 to organizations providing nutritional resources to kids in need in New York and Los Angeles via ABC Food Tours. The campaign’s new element is C.H.A.D., an acronym for Coconut Hangover Alleviation Device. Consumers can access the AI chatbot for free using Alexa (stating “Alexa, enable Coconut Hangover Device”) or Google Home (“OK Google, talk to Coconut Hangover Device”) to get tips on hangover relief. The device will respond with humorous questions and thoughts such as: “On a scale of 1 to 10—1 meaning you passed the field sobriety test but you sang Drake lyrics with the officer, and 10 meaning your search history from last night is 20 variations of “Total Body Transplant Surgery”—how hungover are you?"“The best place to start tracing your steps is your camera roll. That could also be the worst place to start.”“Last question. This is the big one… Did you text an ex?” C.H.A.D.’s motive, naturally, is to convince consumers that Vita Coco is an ideal hangover cure. Incentives for Alexa users include a 30% discount on the product by ordering through voice commands via Amazon Pay. Additionally, the brand will offer $3 discounts on four packs ordered through Instacart. The campaign’s final component was sparked by a partnership with messaging platform Holler. The company created relevant animated stickers that Venmo users can include with their payment requests on Jan. 1. Stickers will auto-populate if requests are related to keywords such as "coconut water" or "hangover." Finazzo added that Vita Coco will measure campaign success based on how much demand it creates. "We’re trying to actually solve a problem and address a consumer need, not just talk about it," she said. "If we drive demand for the merchandise, the tools and the content, we’ll know if we’re able to connect with our community in a meaningful way beyond a traditional ad campaign." We Talked to the Coconut Water Brand That Offered to Send a Jar of Piss to a Hater