Ugly Drinks pioneered the anti-sugar DTC sparkling water playbook in the UK before shutting in 2022 — a cautionary and instructive case study in consumer beverage scale.
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See all ads on AdLibrary →Ugly Drinks was founded in 2015 by Hugh Thomas and Joe Benn, both alumni of Vita Coco. The brand pioneered DTC sparkling water in the UK with a bold anti-sugar stance and limited-edition monthly flavour drops that drove subscriber cult loyalty. After expanding to the US, the brand quietly shut down operations in 2022. Also searched as Ugly.
Ugly Drinks ran one of the most creative DTC acquisition strategies in UK beverages: monthly limited-edition flavours created genuine urgency, and their referral programme generated word-of-mouth at low CAC. Ads leaned into the anti-sugar manifesto with punchy headlines and irreverent copy. See the brand's ad history in the Ugly Drinks ad library.
Facebook and Instagram were the brand's primary acquisition channels. Carousel ads showcasing the monthly limited-edition flavour alongside the core range worked well for new subscriber conversion. The referral programme was amplified through paid social, creating a flywheel of customer acquisition. US expansion saw the brand test TikTok and influencer channels before the shutdown.
Copy was bold, manifesto-driven, and anti-establishment in tone: 'No sugar. No sweeteners. No BS.' The brand positioned itself explicitly against the big soft-drink brands, calling out artificial ingredients by name. The word 'Ugly' itself was reclaimed as a positive — honest, plain, real — which gave the brand strong naming memorability.
Ugly Drinks is one of the most instructive cautionary tales in UK DTC beverages. The brand solved customer acquisition brilliantly but faced the classic beverage scale problem: grocery shelf space, shipping economics, and US retail velocity are fundamentally different challenges from DTC subscription growth. The lesson for beverage marketers: plan the retail transition strategy before you need it, not after.
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