Jason Kelce isn’t actually collecting your pee. Here’s the story behind his viral AI data center ad for Garage Beer.
Garage Beer’s CEO said the “goal is just to perpetually be entertaining.” Their latest spot, which was a collaboration with Liquid Death, certainly got some big reactions.
Jason Kelce wants your pee to cool artificial intelligence data centers.
Not really. But if you take a recent advertisement from Garage Beer and Liquid Death for its word, you would think so. On Tuesday, the two beverage companies released an ad starring Kelce, a cofounder of Garage Beer, where the former Eagles center takes aim at AI data centers.
“This one, as soon as we started brainstorming it, was just so topical and a way that we felt like we could both be farcical in a way that relates to both of our brands,” Garage Beer CEO and co-founder Andy Sauer told The Inquirer. “If you drink beers, if you drink energy drinks, you’re going to have to pee. What could you do with pee? I don’t know. Maybe let’s cool some data centers.”
The ad opens with Kelce urinating in a glass jar, stating, “AI data centers waste millions of gallons of water. That’s why Liquid Death and Garage Beer have decided to team up. We want your pee to cool these data centers.”
Kelce promptly breaks into song, belting, “We want you pee, please give us your pee.” Kelce is joined by Liquid Death mascot Murder Man and people from all walks of life — including a farmer and a skater. Each appears to be holding a jar of their own urine, taking it to a post office to send to a data center.
“It was funny to watch,” Sauer said. “It was like a lemonade mix to make the pee, and like the folks who do the prop work were so funny — just making some darker and some lighter.”
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The construction of data centers has become a hot-button issue. A June poll conducted by Quinnipiac University found that 76% of registered Pennsylvania voters would oppose a data center being built in their community. On Tuesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro, who previously championed the projects, signed an executive order that requires local approval for the construction of data centers before they can receive state permits.
The outrage around data centers is centered on the projects’ environmental impact on the communities they reside in. A typical data center uses 300,000 gallons of water a day, the equivalent of around 1,000 households, according to NPR.
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“[Garage Beer and Liquid Death] kind of treat both of us, our brands, a little bit like writers’ rooms,” Sauer said. “A little [Saturday Night Live]-esque in a way where we are always brainstorming, ‘What are the things that are topical at the moment that we could, in a relevant brand way, comment on?’ And that was that. It just created a great backdrop. We’re like, ‘Everybody’s talking about AI and data centers and the water surrounding it.’”
Along with releasing the ad, the two beverage companies sold “Data Center Coolant Collectors” — glass jars similar to the ones shown in the ad. The jars quickly sold out.
With the ad taking on a contentious issue, the reactions to it have varied. Some, who are against the construction of the centers, have celebrated the spot. Others have condemned the ad, claiming Kelce is not “informed on data centers.”
“It is still funny to me how unserious this is and how serious some of the responses are, which, to me, almost just makes it funnier,” Sauer said. “I saw one comment that said, ‘I think this is taking it a little too far. I don’t think we actually need to send them pee.’ Like, clearly, we’re not actually collecting urine.
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“[Kelce’s] been equally surprised at the seriousness of the comments. He’s having to hold back from responding with jokes to those things. So he’s getting a kick out of it. I think he thinks it’s just very funny because in his mind, it’s so obviously ridiculous.”
Sauer noted that, before this ad, Garage Beer had maintained an “apolitical, always positive tone” in its marketing. The company’s CEO clarified that their trademark style is not going anywhere. Cofounder and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, Jason’s younger brother, is starring in a “five-part series” of ads that is “very heartwarming” and more aligned with the company’s usual tone.
“I think our goal is just to perpetually be entertaining,” Sauer said.
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