People cough up $38 for 'unfiltered Hot Dog Water' at festival

People lined up to learn more about the health benefits of a new water -- Hot Dog Water. (Global News)

Vancouver’s annual Car Free Day festival attracts thousands of people to the Canadian city’s Main Street. However, this year visitors were treated to an unusual new product among the other food and drink stalls – unfiltered Hot Dog Water.

“We’ve created a recipe, having a lot of people put a lot of effort into research and a lot of people with backgrounds in science really creating the best version of Hot Dog Water that we could,” self-styled Hot Dog Water CEO Douglas Bevans told Global News.

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The drink, which comes in a sleek glass bottle filled with water and a single hot dog, is “keto compatible” and will help the drinker “lose weight, increase brain function, look younger, [and] increase vitality,” the sign at the Hot Dog Water booth claims.

The sign also explains that the drink is rich in sodium and triggers anti-inflammatory processes.

“There’s a fair bit of it that is too science-y for me,” Bevan told the Global News. “So the protein of the Hot Dog Water helps your body uptake the water content, and the sodium and all the things you’d need post-workout.”

The Hot Dog Water, which comes unfiltered, was listed for an “event price” of $37.99.

“They’ve been drinking it for hours,” he said. “We have gone through about 60 litres (16 gallons) of real hot dog water.”

The booth also sold Hot Dog Water lip balm, breath spray and body fragrance, Global News reported.

But the protein-rich beverage did come with a catch, which was stated at the bottom of the sign in fine print:

“Hot Dog Water in its absurdity hopes to encourage critical thinking related to product marketing and the significant role it can play in our purchasing choices.”

Bevans, an artist and tour operator, told Global News that he hatched the idea as a commentary on the “snake oil salesmen” of health marketing.

“It’s really sort of a commentary on product marketing, and especially sort of health-quackery product marketing,” he said to Global News.

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Bevans spent about $1,200 for the marketing stunt for bottles, labels, branding and other costs, the media outlet reported. But he hopes to have left a lasting impression.

“From the responses, I think people will actually go away and reconsider some of these other $80 bottles of water that will come out that are ‘raw’ or ‘smart waters,’ or anything that doesn’t have any substantial scientific backing but just a lot of pretty impressive marketing.”