How to Make a Millennial Feel Cozy in Just One Beverage

Does this mean I have to swap out my avocado toast habit for a Recess? Who needs to pay a mortgage anyway?

Two things. Yep, the product is beautifully designed for Instagram. It's interesting to see more and more products being released into the wild that look like art school comps. I think the designer in me both loves and hates it. I want things to be ugly so I can continue to pretend to make them better. Now my real rant. This contains 10mg CBD. The tenuous therapeutic minimum dosage for CBD is 300mg. And no, you can't microdose on something that has little measurably effect at 30x. Let me know when they include THC. Actually, don't. Let my boomer parents know.

"Recess is a sparkling water infused with CBD (government name: cannabidiol), a nonintoxicating hemp extract that is said to act as a pain reliever, anti-anxiety, anti-inflammatory and chillifier." Effective medicinal CBD always comes from cannabis (marijuana), not hemp.

How about a cool refreshing cocktail of battery acid or drain-cleaner?

Millennials, Gen Yers and their ilk appear to be remarkably easy to manipulate and remarkable gullible for all their vaunted prowess with technology.

old, now i know for sure. so many discoveries in this little gem of an article. ASMR, who knew interactive performance art I performed way back in the 1980’s could be monetized? and Allbirds, that natural shoes could be packaged so wonderfully, man dig their wholly eclectic website appeal to the reluctant consumer with multi-purpose packaging and low tech attitude all founded i suppose on a shoestring before private equity came calling. not to mention their pervasive ads that appear sandwiched within many many NYT online articles. i’m sure there were many more discoveries i’ve already outlived that i’ve glosses over but my day job calls and i’m very aware that i need my rest. as for recess i guess that’s something i have outlived.

Why do millennials always get credit or blame for things the rest of us use/buy/do?

Total entertainment...bang on grasp of the whole tang! Thank you all. From a Boomer on the cusp

I’m 35, sort of millennial-ish. My mother raised my sister and I on microwaved ham, can fruit cocktails, hamburgers and baked ziti. We moved to California and started eating better because of all the good produce and wellness culture. We eat a lot of salmon, quinoa and vegetable soups now. I usually buy pomegranate juice and carbonated water from a Trader Joes, and mix about 1/4 cup juice to 3/4 fizzy water. I don’t really mind wellness culture and packaging as long as it’s healthier and not cult like. My teenage years were sustained on a diet pointing to diabetes and it’s better I’m off that path now. It’s probably better that we be drinking flavored fizzy water that’s low in sugar than all the high fructose corn syrup in soda.

There is no mention in the article that these products are illegal.

Has any market research shown that this is actually being purchased and drunk by millennials? Almost everyone here is bashing millennials based on the company's being oriented to them, but I'd bet Boomers are the likely buyers.

If a sparkling beverage company really wanted to go the whole nine yards, they should keep the fun cans, put nicotine in their product and sell it next to the energy drinks. Is Four Loki still on the market?

Best Choice seltzer 12-pack for $3.00, plus stevia (suggest Sweetleaf Water Drops) is my compromise. CBD has been ingested, with nothing but meh results.

For something a little less twee, try Mountjoy Sparkling...

Okay, what does the drink taste like? For example, when people talk about CBD gummies, they comment on an oily aftertaste. Also, adding something to bottled water is not new- coca cola when first sold contained coca, which led to it's reputation as a "refresher".

Wow, who would have thought marketing people decided to target a specific age demographic with branding for that market group? Is this some new buzz idea that has never been done before by any company anywhere to any demographic? Or is targeted marketing, product development and branding a thing that has existed forever (at least back to Mad Men era)? BTW, anyone 55+ can't complain about how the millennial kids (who are all actually adults aged 25-35 now) like to drink fizzy water. Who inflicted coke and Pepsi on millennials as children in the 80s/90s and thus developing our acquired taste for carbon dioxide?

Your lead comes out without a stereotyped statement of a group of people? As the mother of "millennials" I am offended.

“Cool, calm and collected” is a phrase borrowed from a Secret deodorant commercial in the late 60’s.

My millennial sons are cringing! What's wrong with spritzing a little water and adding a slice of lime, for almost free? Thirty bucks for a six pack of smooth marketing? Sad.

Actually, the customers who can afford and want this beverage are baby boomers, looking for relief from all their aches and pains. They're the ones who are heavy buyers of CBD laced products.

An elixir from in a can that will cure all one's ills? Many years from now writers will focus on the millennial generation. They'll each choose a few characteristics of this group on which to concentrate their research. However all will mention this product as the key to understanding what made millennials click. After the contents of the can are explained and analyzed, the tag line will laughingly proclaim, "... and they bought it!"

Granted, I was still half asleep when I pulled up this article, but I really thought the cans and especially their accompanying “hipster” text were a parody of some sort from a talented graphics artist. How wrong I was.

I am a Gen X-er who bought a six pack of Recess. I can't tolerate alcohol and thought this might be a good alternative for unwinding on a Friday night. My order arrived several weeks delayed, but communication from them on fulfillment was good. Packaging is beautiful. The cans have a soft, velvety feel. We did experience a mild "chill" feeling after imbibing; the taste was just ok. Not sure if I will purchase it again at that price.

$30 a six pack is cheaper than rehab!

Just drink some water. It's healthy

This article makes me desperate to try the drink. Am I the stereotype?

My daughter ( a so-called millennial) moved to New York 5 years ago. Where can I buy this at ??? She is due for a care package as well has rent money this week.x

Wait, I was supposed to be into this? I was clueless, oh no! I knew there would someday be a reason to regret staying off Facebook and Instagram.

As a millennial, this article makes me cringe in self-hatred. But also as a millennial, I'm sure a similar takedown could've been written about all the baby boomers I see hating in the comments with regards to their fondness for Miller or Coke. Whats sad about this isn't generational, its the continual ability of corporations to convince us we can only relieve what troubles us by spending.

Re: "In the end, whatever creates this affective experience is invaluable. ... When a product like Recess seems to fulfill a millennial consumer’s desires, we’re in." "In" at 5 bucks a can? You're joking, right? If not, then explain to me why so many millennials need taxpayers' rescue on their student-loan debts. *With a straight face.*

dang, i wish i was a #creative so i could drink this stuff also wish I had $30 for a six pack of seltzer

Capitalism in decay.

I wanted to mention some mistakes which I notice as a graphic designer... The author mentions an "ironic font" in the abstract for this article so wondering what an ironic font is, I clicked on the article. Then, in the first paragraph the author writes, "...Bubbles? Yes. CBD? Check. Sans-serif block font? ..." Here is the definition of "block" font - Block font is a sans serif style font mostly designed in capital letters having thick curves and lines shaping the letter. The cans in the photos have neither ironic lettering or the thickness to make them block lettering. I am not familiar with these drinks, however as a designer I really love the packaging. Not sure it's "too cute" as the author asserts, just on trend. I glanced at their website and they definitely could have made the site better and trendier but they did not. I hear the author's complaint though. There is little substance to the marketing. Little to justify the price tag for what amounts to be fancy water. There's no information about the amount of CBD in the can, info that you might find with other CBD or nutritional products. All the packaging does is make the product LOOK cool without telling us more. Maybe it tastes awesome? I still want to know what an ironic font is?

Millennials brains have truly gone into ‘recess’ if they spend 3 cents (let alone $30/six pack) on this CBD fake product. The FDA should find cause to get it off the market.

I am SO happy I'm Generation X.

How is this different than Bud or Miller for Baby Boomers?

All that matters is whether the product is "instagram-able" or not.

As a “millennial” I hate being branded a millennial. I find it simplistic and offensive to think a brand can rip off some cheap 90s nostalgia and think I’ll come running with no regard at all to what I’m buying like children stepping in line to the tantalizing music of the Pied Piper or lemmings following each other off a cliff. On the other hand, in a country when the president of the free world is going on live tv to pitch a fake national emergency because he cannot raise funds for a giant useless concrete wall, isn’t the time for hating on us millennials over? Maybe it’s time for me to proudly wear my title, blast my Smashing Pumpkins music, point out that all of the clothes everyone is currently wearing WE WORE FIRST, and dare to offer that YOU could learn from the millennials. Is a little self awareness, self deprecation, a want for soothing colors, and a less jarring caffeinated beverage than the coffee of our parents or the cocaine of our older siblings such a crime compared to all the actual crimes going on? Everyone, chill out. Remain calm, cool and collected and just grab a drink.

As someone who drinks sparkling water mixed with my orange juice in the morning I would like to (sarcastically) thank millennials for "discovering" sparkling water and causing the stores to raise the price- they have found that sparkling water that once sold (quite profitably) for $2 a 6 pack can now be sold for $5/6 or more depending upon brand. The metro area where I live (Memphis) has some of the highest quality artesian water of any city in the world. It is actually sold bottled with the only difference being no chlorine and fluoride as required by law. Despite this, millennials and other gullible people pay more than good money for water transported from Iceland, Fiji, Italy, France and god knows where else. Then there is the whole alkaline water nonsense. Presumably well educated people buy this snake oil in upscale grocery stores. Even Coca -Cola has gotten into the act. They bought Topo Chico (the only Mexican water I recommend you drink- but only in the glass bottles) and have broadened it's distribution while steadily marching the price up. God help us if the millennials "discover" it.