BORED & THIRSTY: “Satisfying Thirst for Creative Self-Expression”
DeliveryRank features an exclusive interview with Kurt Lohse, the Co-Founder and President of Bored & Thirsty - a pioneering Media + CPG company that reimagines the bottled water industry by blending premium alkaline hydration with artistic self-expression. With a background in entrepreneurship and media, Lohse has led the brand to national prominence through innovative collaborations, including augmented reality experiences and partnerships with major festivals and retailers. His vision positions Bored & Thirsty as a creative force in both the beverage and cultural landscapes.
Bored & Thirsty positions itself as more than just a beverage company, aiming to transform the daily act of hydration into an engaging and entertaining ritual through art and creativity. How do you envision this approach influencing consumer perceptions of everyday products?
We believe utility can be beautiful — and that the most overlooked objects in our hands every day are blank canvases waiting to inspire. Hydration doesn’t have to be boring. By wrapping functional products like water in story, art, and tech, we’re shifting how people see their daily rituals. A Bored & Thirsty can doesn’t just quench your thirst — it surprises you, entertains you, and connects you to culture. When consumers realize that even a can of water can express something personal or bold, it opens the door for them to expect more from everything else in their daily life too.
Your cans feature limited edition artwork from various collaborations. Can you share the process of selecting artists and how these collaborations align with your brand's mission to showcase art, music, fashion, gaming, and sports?
We look for voices, not just visuals. Each artist or collaborator we feature is doing something culturally meaningful — whether it's a muralist making waves in a local scene, a music producer pushing genre boundaries, or a sports team with a diehard fan base and a story to tell. Our process starts with the energy: does this person or brand elevate the culture around them? Then we collaborate to make something physical that lives on the can — a design that says something, feels collectible, and rewards curiosity with digital content, merch, or moments. Every can we produce is a limited-edition portal into that world.
Sustainability is a key aspect of your brand, with an emphasis on reducing single-use plastic by using infinitely recyclable aluminum cans. How do you balance environmental responsibility with the aesthetic and functional aspects of your product design?
We never treat sustainability and design as trade-offs — they’re inseparable. Aluminum gives us a premium, cold-touch feel and infinitely better recyclability than plastic. It’s better for the planet, better for our health, and better for our aesthetic. Our cans are designed to be kept, collected, and even reused — not tossed. In fact, we’ve seen people display them like vinyl or sneaker drops. That’s exactly the point: if we make something too beautiful to throw away, we change the lifecycle of the product and shift behavior toward something more circular and conscious.
Bored & Thirsty has established partnerships with events like Life is Beautiful Music Festival and Darker Waves. How do these collaborations enhance your brand's presence and connect with your target audience?
Festivals are where culture happens in real time — and Bored & Thirsty shows up as more than a hydration station. At Life is Beautiful and Wonderfront, our cans were mini billboards, conversation starters, even merch. People took photos with them, collected them, scanned them for secret drops. These events are the perfect storm of heat, hype, and high energy — which means people are thirsty in every sense. We meet them there, not just to refresh them physically but to invite them deeper into a cultural experience they want to carry with them.
As a global community platform, Bored & Thirsty aims to satisfy the thirst for creative self-expression. How do you plan to expand this community and what initiatives are in place to engage consumers beyond the product itself?
We see every can as the start of a conversation — not the end. When someone scans a B&T can, they unlock interactive content, artist stories, AR moments, and reward-based journeys that connect them with other fans, creators, and brands. We're building a platform where anyone who creates — or vibes with what others create — can participate. That means expanding into AR Smart Avatars that can engage directly with our fans from can scans, virtual drops, remixable sticker packs, and eventually fan-submitted can art competitions. We’re not just putting liquid in cans. We’re putting culture in people’s hands — and that community grows every time someone shares, scans, or saves a can instead of tossing it.
If you would like to find out more about BORED & THIRSTY, please visit https://boredandthirsty.com/