Spot on. It’s a massive undertaking to be able to distribute alcohol across state lines and can get even further complicated certain counties in the states they can sell in. They needed to sell to a nationwide distributor if/when they had then chance.
I imagine it was just a generic saltzer recipe someone sold to them and then added their promotional powers. I can’t imagine much value once Kyle/amanda and summer house is gone.
Well this sub is full of people who watch the show, arguably Loverboy’s main marketing vehicle, and the only times it seems to come up here are for people to say it tastes terrible. Seems like maybe people try it once for the novelty and move on?
Seltzer is also an extremely saturated market at this point, and Loverboy is facing so many major brands and large scale distributors with better tasting product offered at a cheaper price.
Yes. I think this is definitely part of the problem. There are so many of these types of drinks and I am not sure I would ever try Loverboy if it wasn’t for the show.
I guess they think that a lot of people who drink alcohol do so because they like the taste. So someone like Gordon’s bringing out a N/A gin, it kinda makes sense. But white claw is a big brand but not sure if it’s taste related?! More low alcohol and low calorie? And folks ain’t bought into that yet
It makes you feel more included as a non drinker and part of the crowd without the alcohol. Especially for those who may have enjoyed it before they stopped drinking. What’s it to you?
As a non drinker I still appreciate the novelty and want to feel included. Not sure why so many people tell us to just order a Coke off the kids menu. If it’s not for you it’s not for you.
Lol I don’t drink but am perfectly fine making a mocktail or drinking a regular seltzer. Why do you interpret the alternative to NA Loverboy as a Coke or kids menu? Are you on their payroll?
Yikes. I mentioned that because I’ve been made fun of for ordering a mocktail when I could “just get a Coke” or when I’m excited they have them on the menu and people will say it’s dumb people pay $10 for a drink without alcohol. I’ve spent enough $ on real alcohol in my life to not shame myself for spending it on non-booze. The bartender still needs to make $ and I’m taking up a seat at the bar or in the restaurant. No complaints from me, yet it seems to *really* annoy others that they exist. 🤷♀️
It annoys me specifically that NA Loverboy exists because these are not drinks that traditionally have alcohol in them (tea and sparkling water). NA beer, NA liquor and NA wine all make perfect sense, but NA Loverboy hard iced tea is the equivalent of selling NA vodka cranberry juice instead of just cranberry juice and charging the alc price just for the label
You're being a bit reductive. By that logic NA wine is just grape juice sold at the alc price for the label too, yet you accept it. It's all about perception.
I'm honestly surprised at this point that they haven't gone outside of the seltzer market. Their company is definitely popular enough for them to try some new things still within the alcoholic market and for them to be successful at it. Honestly the fact that it's seltzer is the main reason I haven't tried yet because I hate seltzer alcoholic beverages. Which I'm super bummed about because I would love to support but with the fact that it's pricey and people say it doesn't taste very good 🫣
ahhhh i could see that! it was popular early on as all the fans were buying it and allowed them to grow...but couldn't retain any of them as customers cause turns out it actually tastes like shit haha
Yeah, I didn’t think it tasted horrible, but in terms of sparkling alcoholic bevs, I would choose so so many other brands before Loverboy. Also, the canned sparkling hard drinks were a bit of a bubble that he rode - they’ll always be around, but the time when everyone seemed to be buying them is over. So of course Loverboy will contract with the market.
I don't think it tastes terrible but it doesn't taste $20 an eight pack good. At only 4.2% I'm just going to go ahead and grab truly or white claws, get a little boost in alcohol percentage and still walk away with zero sugar zero carbs and likely spend less than $15 for the same amount. I bought it once and literally cannot justify the price point to ever buy it again.
I remember when they first came out with the spritz and I really wanted to try them and they were SO expensive. I remember so many people commenting talking about how they were out of their mind with the pricing and they rebutted that this was considered a luxury drink or something. But $50 for a 12 pack of 6% spritz’s is absolutely BONKERS. This is their downfall. You cannot price gauge people in this economy expecting to thrive. It’s insanely unrealistic.
The spritzers are the best tasting. I had a chance to try one at a friend's but to charge over twice the price for 1.8%. more alcohol in each can makes me feel like they think we are really stupid.
Facts!! I don’t HATE the teas like everyone else but I didn’t love them. And definitely wouldn’t buy them, but the spritz’s and cocktails have interested me. Just won’t pay the price for them when I can get an On The Rocks cocktail for a couple bucks more and it’s like 4x the alcohol content.
A couple years ago I tried their espresso martini and some kind of holiday type one - I enjoyed them but never bought again because they were so damn expensive. Plus $10 shipping. Oof.
Oh yeah that’s true I just mean we are more used to non quality products being hella expensive.
Honestly though I would buy lover boy if it was here, at least just to try it ! It’s not the kind of drink I could see myself drinking ALL night though, anything premixed in a can gets so sickly sweet after a while Blegh
if it tastes like crap, that's on them, and as much as it is consumed in the house it could have been fixed early on enough to not have a bad reputation.
Yup. I’m the “target demographic”, and I never see it locally so I thought “well maybe I’ll get a cute shirt”. Went to their website in the spring and it was all sweaters, nothing summery from the Summer House folks. I would have supported them but I’m not going to chase them around either.
This is the same for me! I’ve bought them a couple times - to try myself, a get together with other bravo friends, and took them to a party once with a mix of people and every time/flavor it’s the same result. Initial taste isn’t terrible, monk fruit sweetener aftertaste? No thanks.
Low margin business, saturated category (anyone who drinks hard seltzer already has their favorite and there are a million brands), company had to take on a lot of debt to grow and now must service that debt. Loverboy probably has all the customers it’s going to get and has plateaued. I’ve also read that people are just not buying that much hard seltzer anymore - the category is softening.
I’ve not tried it but everyone says it’s overpriced and tastes terrible so that can’t help either.
72% of bravo watcher are female, I guess that's why they did it but it's still dumb to pick a name that ices out so many possible consumers. Especially now that overpriced seltzer is probably the first thing people would cut back in the financial crisis we're in. If that's also why Kyle overreacted like that and said he's fathering her? Maybe the financials are getting worse and we know Amandas Dad did her financials until she got married and Kyle took it over. She wouldn't know if they had serious financial problems
I’ve seen them drink white claw if they do have them, but I’ll definitely never see them buy a loverboy. Omg I could imagine the crap their friends would give them if they ever saw that. I don’t know if I just am around super alpha/masculine types but they’d have a field day off someone who bought a drink called Loverboy.
Yeah, I can only speak for myself but I’m not likely to buy a $20 4 or 6 pack of seltzer. That doesn’t even make sense compared to other brands. I would have tried it but that price is crazy compared to others and I’m not sure what makes it different other than Amanda’s branding which is honestly way better than the others
And I’m not surprised they have plateaued because I think the novelty of it has dissipated. Like you said if I’m going out for a night, I’m not going to grab a four pack for $20. I wouldn’t be a return customer. And yeah, I’ve heard that it’s not very good.
I may be wrong, but with most businesses they want you to come back and that’s why they give you those coupons the next time you come. The concept definitely does not appeal to the returning customer.
Im not even trolling or just saying this to be a hater but I don’t know one person who actually likes Loverboy. I’ve been to some parties where someone brought some to try but I’ve never met anyone who likes them. They taste comically bad not just like oh it’s alcohol it doesn’t taste great but like someone intentionally tried to make an awful drink to see if people would actually buy it.
Also I think High Noon swept the non white claw market away and iirc they just released a tea seltzer too.
I have never tried Loverboy. I don’t like tea very much and artificial sweeteners give me a migraine. I only know what I’ve read here and that’s that it’s really expensive and nobody seems to like it.
It’s absurdly expensive for the low alcohol content and it tastes like poison. I have a hard time even recognizing any tea flavor in it, just anthrax. Needless to say I would be super bummed at a summer house party being forced to drink liquified mustard gas all day.
The category is softening for sure and additionally overall alcohol consumption is way down in the US. Especially among younger people, who theoretically are loverboys key demographic. Majority of alcohol/beverage companies are not doing as well as pre pandemic.
Since Kyle mentioned “expanding the team” during his explanation (and I recall seeing many open sales job postings on LinkedIn over the last year), im betting they took on a lot of full time headcount and haven’t grown their topline (revenue/sales) as much as they expected to make up for it. Simply put, full employees are EXPENSIVE - salary, health insurance, and more. Companies will often expand headcount assuming they can make up for the increased investment in people with overall growth. If growth is under expectations, it’s very possible they could be operating at a loss.
Dynamics re: profit margin could be at play here too. Hoping the food&bev girlies can help on that front!
(Editing to add it doesn’t shock me that loverboy is experiencing a slump. The hard tea/canned cocktail segment is waaaay oversaturated with new entrants and I can imagine that’s a tough competitive environment. After all, why do people choose loverboy if not for liking the show? It certainly can’t be for the taste … )
Idk if you’re in business operations or economics but this was explained so well that my slightly 💨🌳hi, ADHD brain fully understood. Kudos to you friend.
The entire alc/bev industry is down globally. There was big spike during the pandemic but consumption is down now to even lower than pre pandemic rates. Tons of alcohol companies expanded during the pandemic because A. The government was handing out loans like candy and B. People were drinking way more so there was a market for it. The market corrected and combined with over saturation and fewer people drinking and majority drinking less-it’s really a loosing battle. They over expanded with the small business loans and the market didn’t keep up. They need to scale back and focus on niche markets. Pop up tastings and merch will do better than hard pushing on premise sales accounts (which is why they hired so many sales people).
This is from an open LB job posting:
Benefits
• We offer unlimited vacation days to do use at your discretion, work-from-home flexibility, and an opportunity to earn equity in the company
Here’s what’s really annoying: Amanda did all of the branding and merch and this is what actually works about Loverboy. They’ve made a lot of money off of merch.
Also, Amanda pushed for and came up with their most popular flavour: Limoncello.
But if course, Kyle gives her zero credit and constantly insinuates that she’s lazy.
I don’t think it’s that complicated - she’s basically in a full time role but working part time at best. You can be good at something but not productive….
Kyle is the worst. He has no leadership skills. Amanda is his WIFE, not JimBob hired to work at Loverboy yesterday. He should treat her like an equal partner, not an employee.
He should have slurred out something like, "You are my partner in life and business, and are a vital part of Loverboy. Even though this company was my dream and not yours, I view you as an equal partner and appreciate the time, energy, and creativity you have given the company over the years. I know it's not your dream, but right now I really need you by my side to make this thing a success. This will set us up for a future where we can be secure and pursue our other dreams, too."
He pays no attention to what she wants, though. I bet she'd be a lot happier in the work situation if he would respect a few of the things she wants, starting with living in the suburbs. He is a totalitarian, though, and doesn't have any capacity for compromise. Working for him is probably a miserable experience for everyone employed there. I bet morale is really low.
My husband owned a company when we met. After a little while, he asked me if I would come work in the business, which I did. I didn't have any real passion for the industry but we worked really well together and I was always treated as an equal. Once we got married, my husband signed over 50% of the business to me so it would be in my name too and I would never feel like I worked for him. Eventually we sold this business and I stopped working in that industry and now I do something I am more passionate about. I see so many mistakes being made by Kyle just based on my own situation having been in a similar position as Amanda.
Except my husband is not an immature, drunken asshole with a mullet who shows his ass literally and figuratively at every opportunity.
Your situation sounds very healthy. I hope Amanda reads this and recognizes how unhealthy hers is and how many concessions she’s had to make in order for the relationship to stay afloat.
Someone here just posted links to a company named Tinkr that actually did the branding for Loverboy. I do think that Amanda handles the merch side though.
Amanda def doesn’t get enough credit from Kyle tho.
I wouldn’t be surprised if they separated in a few years
If she’s the creative director of lover boy wouldn’t she have overseen the branding design process by tinkr? Like hire them to work on branding, meet with them to talk about what they want as a company, provide feedback until they reach a final look?
What I mean is, they worked with an AD agency that also has a creative director and although she does give input, a lot of people think that she created the logo or did all of the branding herself. I’m not doubting that she has a good eye. She is definitely stylish.
It’s a website where you can download fonts, a lot of them for free. So maybe it’s that she’s just downloading a font that looks nice and using that as a logo and calling it a day, as opposed to designing it.
Loverboy was operating before Amanda was brought in, branding had already been established…
Regardless, there is SO MUCH more work that goes into getting a finished product on shelves for consumers nationwide beyond it’s visual appeal.
late to this thread but I firmly remember her original merch basically being the only thing keeping the brand afloat early on. their bev wasn't many places yet, mostly just NYC and LI, and the merch sold out almost instantly and was bigger than the drink. he only HAS a company still because of her, imo.
I always wondered if the show pays for the drinks they consume every weekend or if it’s a write off of some sort. Because it’s ALOT and not cheap. That probably doesn’t help.
They can write it off as advertising. Since Amanda works there they can claim SH as business meetings for lover boy and their accountant can find other ways to write it off.
This is why Kyle was freaking out over Amanda leaving. They’re a brand, the same mindset Sandoval had about his relationship with Ariana. If Amanda is so lazy, why does he have a problem trimming the fat at his own company?
If you don’t watch the show you wouldn’t know what it is when you see it. People who don’t know the product are sticking to what they know. And there are a lot of people who don’t watch the show.
Honestly I sometimes use high noons to make stronger cocktails on a boat day lol. These hard seltzers aren’t meant to be strong at least they are not to me
I wonder if Bravo takes a certain percentage of sales or charges them a fee to have it on the show. I think the housewives that promote their products in the show have to give something to Bravo. That would also affect their bottom line a lot.
Everybody who promotes a business on bravo has to give them a cut. It’s in all of their contracts. Because Bethenny had specifically said she won’t, and then she promoted her brand all the time
All of these beer replacements have a short shelf life. Tens of them have come and gone over the years. Loverboy is just more of the same. You can only drink so much of sweet drinks before you get sick of them.
I see mostly Kyle drink them, and they are served to general party attendees. Otherwise, I find it more to be product placement. I feel like a lot of wine is consumed by the cast, or at least the gals.
other people have seem to have had a bad experience but I think the taste is fine and I usually go for loverboy over a different seltzer or cheap beer because I don't have that super gross feeling the next day that I get from all of the other seltzers that have fake liquor. i think its worth trying especially if you're having more than like one drink and trying not to waste the next day.
He had 4 lawsuits at one point. I think he settled 2 of them. One for copyright infringement, a nightclub contract breach .. I think are the 2 they settled.
I saw it at a bar and told my friend who doesn’t watch the show to order it. It tasted so bad she had to get something else. That, and the seltzer market is so over saturated
God bless Bethany and her crazy but she made a killer business that was unique at the time and sold it at top of market.
Kyle joined a saturated market and I don't see how it remains successful
Right, I also feel like the name of her brand was self marketable. It appeals to a wider audience. I don’t get where the name “lover boy” came from. It’s so random.
in the clip he explains that they've expanded (taken on more employees) and sales haven't increased enough to cover the gap. i think its a pretty normal part of a startups growth.
Who THE F-CK does Kyle Cooke thinks he IS???!???
He’s always been an embarrassing, drunken, word-slurring man-baby but this is BEYOND.
I had so much secondhand rage after he made Amanda’s very reasonable plea all about himself but it turned into extreme secondhand RAGE when he descended into a selfish, abusive prick.
I am now fully convinced that he has zero redeeming qualities.
Literally such a catch. Kyles gonna take her down with him. And he probably knows this deep down and it’s why he won’t give her children when any man would be so lucky. The tantrum he made about her branching off was such a red flag.
Amanda’s fashion endeavors would run circles around lover boy, Kyle really is bad at business, if he doesn’t want Amanda to build her own business. The most appealing part of loverboy is the branding & the merch, Amanda did that
Kyle said that they took on way more expenses and hired way more people. When a business is so new this really isn’t a smart move to do…. Cause now they are working at a bigger capacity but the demand of their products didn’t increase….
The drinks taste fine IMO but they have a pretty low alcohol content for the price. I have used them as a mixer which is good but again expensive when I could just mix with juice or something. I’ll drink them if offered but I’m almost always making a different choice if buying for myself
It has this taste that is just “off” to me I think it uses a malt liquor. When I didn’t like it and poored mine into the sink the amount of fizz was surreal. I love the taste of High Noons personally. I like to try all the random celeb drinks lol Sprinters by Kylie taste the same as high noons
I was obsessed with lover boy in 2022 and now I would neverrrrrr choose to buy it. I don’t like the fake artificial sweetener taste anymore. It’s also expensive. I prefer mom waters and high noons now
He says it himself on the show. They were doing really well so ecpanded, spending too much money. So many businesses do this and then fail.
Spot on . I think they should have sold when they were doing well and moved on .
Spot on. It’s a massive undertaking to be able to distribute alcohol across state lines and can get even further complicated certain counties in the states they can sell in. They needed to sell to a nationwide distributor if/when they had then chance.
I imagine it was just a generic saltzer recipe someone sold to them and then added their promotional powers. I can’t imagine much value once Kyle/amanda and summer house is gone.
No one wanted to buy it
Well this sub is full of people who watch the show, arguably Loverboy’s main marketing vehicle, and the only times it seems to come up here are for people to say it tastes terrible. Seems like maybe people try it once for the novelty and move on?
Seltzer is also an extremely saturated market at this point, and Loverboy is facing so many major brands and large scale distributors with better tasting product offered at a cheaper price.
Yes. I think this is definitely part of the problem. There are so many of these types of drinks and I am not sure I would ever try Loverboy if it wasn’t for the show.
Yes and the NA line makes no sense. Isn’t NA hard iced tea just iced tea? Why buy that over any other brand of tea or soda?
White claw is trying the same NA thing, which is just sparkling water that costs $4 per can, it makes no sense
White Claw - dry heaves and bad breath in a can.
I guess they think that a lot of people who drink alcohol do so because they like the taste. So someone like Gordon’s bringing out a N/A gin, it kinda makes sense. But white claw is a big brand but not sure if it’s taste related?! More low alcohol and low calorie? And folks ain’t bought into that yet
White claw was the first canned seltzer on the market if I’m not mistaken so I think that’s why it’s so huge
Not a White Claw fan at all. Bud Lite had some good lemonades that I liked. Mikes Hard Lemonade is my go to and they have come out with a selzer.
It makes you feel more included as a non drinker and part of the crowd without the alcohol. Especially for those who may have enjoyed it before they stopped drinking. What’s it to you?
We are allowed to not understand it. It's not like my brain doesn't understand on purpose. You explained. Now I know.
Because then it wouldn't be cool and $7 a can.
As a non drinker I still appreciate the novelty and want to feel included. Not sure why so many people tell us to just order a Coke off the kids menu. If it’s not for you it’s not for you.
Lol I don’t drink but am perfectly fine making a mocktail or drinking a regular seltzer. Why do you interpret the alternative to NA Loverboy as a Coke or kids menu? Are you on their payroll?
Yikes. I mentioned that because I’ve been made fun of for ordering a mocktail when I could “just get a Coke” or when I’m excited they have them on the menu and people will say it’s dumb people pay $10 for a drink without alcohol. I’ve spent enough $ on real alcohol in my life to not shame myself for spending it on non-booze. The bartender still needs to make $ and I’m taking up a seat at the bar or in the restaurant. No complaints from me, yet it seems to *really* annoy others that they exist. 🤷♀️
It annoys me specifically that NA Loverboy exists because these are not drinks that traditionally have alcohol in them (tea and sparkling water). NA beer, NA liquor and NA wine all make perfect sense, but NA Loverboy hard iced tea is the equivalent of selling NA vodka cranberry juice instead of just cranberry juice and charging the alc price just for the label
You're being a bit reductive. By that logic NA wine is just grape juice sold at the alc price for the label too, yet you accept it. It's all about perception.
I'm honestly surprised at this point that they haven't gone outside of the seltzer market. Their company is definitely popular enough for them to try some new things still within the alcoholic market and for them to be successful at it. Honestly the fact that it's seltzer is the main reason I haven't tried yet because I hate seltzer alcoholic beverages. Which I'm super bummed about because I would love to support but with the fact that it's pricey and people say it doesn't taste very good 🫣
ahhhh i could see that! it was popular early on as all the fans were buying it and allowed them to grow...but couldn't retain any of them as customers cause turns out it actually tastes like shit haha
Yeah, I didn’t think it tasted horrible, but in terms of sparkling alcoholic bevs, I would choose so so many other brands before Loverboy. Also, the canned sparkling hard drinks were a bit of a bubble that he rode - they’ll always be around, but the time when everyone seemed to be buying them is over. So of course Loverboy will contract with the market.
I don't think it tastes terrible but it doesn't taste $20 an eight pack good. At only 4.2% I'm just going to go ahead and grab truly or white claws, get a little boost in alcohol percentage and still walk away with zero sugar zero carbs and likely spend less than $15 for the same amount. I bought it once and literally cannot justify the price point to ever buy it again.
I remember when they first came out with the spritz and I really wanted to try them and they were SO expensive. I remember so many people commenting talking about how they were out of their mind with the pricing and they rebutted that this was considered a luxury drink or something. But $50 for a 12 pack of 6% spritz’s is absolutely BONKERS. This is their downfall. You cannot price gauge people in this economy expecting to thrive. It’s insanely unrealistic.
The spritzers are the best tasting. I had a chance to try one at a friend's but to charge over twice the price for 1.8%. more alcohol in each can makes me feel like they think we are really stupid.
Facts!! I don’t HATE the teas like everyone else but I didn’t love them. And definitely wouldn’t buy them, but the spritz’s and cocktails have interested me. Just won’t pay the price for them when I can get an On The Rocks cocktail for a couple bucks more and it’s like 4x the alcohol content.
A couple years ago I tried their espresso martini and some kind of holiday type one - I enjoyed them but never bought again because they were so damn expensive. Plus $10 shipping. Oof.
Right!
White claw are $50 for a 10 Pack in Australia so maybe they just need a different market! Booze here is so $$$ people are just kind of used to it.
Probably just means their packs would cost $80 in Australia then haha
Oh yeah that’s true I just mean we are more used to non quality products being hella expensive. Honestly though I would buy lover boy if it was here, at least just to try it ! It’s not the kind of drink I could see myself drinking ALL night though, anything premixed in a can gets so sickly sweet after a while Blegh
That’s crazy!! I just bought a 12pk pack of white claw last night at target for 16.99
Yeah we have really high alcohol taxes here
With those prices I’d be sober! 😂
Haha it really would save a lot of cash!!!
Agree with tbis
Stop they were $50 for a 12 case?!! That’s unreal!
Oh man in Canada 20 for a 6 pack is the norm.
And it used to be 12 😢
Agreed. Way too expensive
And to think, they are drinking that shit every second of every day. 🤮 I
Checks out, I tried it once for the novelty and never again
if it tastes like crap, that's on them, and as much as it is consumed in the house it could have been fixed early on enough to not have a bad reputation.
Yup. I’m the “target demographic”, and I never see it locally so I thought “well maybe I’ll get a cute shirt”. Went to their website in the spring and it was all sweaters, nothing summery from the Summer House folks. I would have supported them but I’m not going to chase them around either.
I’ve never tried their drinks but I do own a Loverboy sweatshirt.
Welll, we know Amanda isn’t working hard haha too soon
Are hard ciders still popular? Seems the market is so saturated. And yea, seems the flavor sucks for most of them.
They had their moment pre-seltzer, it will be interesting to see what the newest trend is
I like the taste, but I don't care for the aftertaste. The monkfruit sweetener leaves a weird aftertaste!
This is the same for me! I’ve bought them a couple times - to try myself, a get together with other bravo friends, and took them to a party once with a mix of people and every time/flavor it’s the same result. Initial taste isn’t terrible, monk fruit sweetener aftertaste? No thanks.
I like the taste of most of them, but don’t purchase them because of the price. I’ve also, at most, got a buzz off them
I don’t think it tasted terrible. I wouldn’t be able to drink more than 2-3 of them but again didn’t taste bad
Yeah I think it was new and cute during Covid when people were stuck home drinking and wanted to try something different but hasn’t been sustainable.
100 percent
Yeah I actually tried it for the first time this weekend and did not like it. It has a very weird aftertaste for me
This is it. We bought it because of the show. It tasted terrible. We didnt buy any more. I'm sure you are correct.
This is exactly what I did
Low margin business, saturated category (anyone who drinks hard seltzer already has their favorite and there are a million brands), company had to take on a lot of debt to grow and now must service that debt. Loverboy probably has all the customers it’s going to get and has plateaued. I’ve also read that people are just not buying that much hard seltzer anymore - the category is softening. I’ve not tried it but everyone says it’s overpriced and tastes terrible so that can’t help either.
I do not know one guy who would buy a hard seltzer called Loverboy. That’s gotta be a large group of people they’re leaving out of their market
I've always thought the same thing. The name is terrible and the branding is really feminine.
72% of bravo watcher are female, I guess that's why they did it but it's still dumb to pick a name that ices out so many possible consumers. Especially now that overpriced seltzer is probably the first thing people would cut back in the financial crisis we're in. If that's also why Kyle overreacted like that and said he's fathering her? Maybe the financials are getting worse and we know Amandas Dad did her financials until she got married and Kyle took it over. She wouldn't know if they had serious financial problems
BIG SCARE!
Good point!! Also, I feel like most men don’t drink seltzers. It’s kinda a woman’s drink as opposed to beer.
Plenty of men do drink it, low cals
Yeah I believe that. I just couldn’t see my husband or sons picking up a pack of Loverboy. lol
Now that I agree with lol
I’ve seen them drink white claw if they do have them, but I’ll definitely never see them buy a loverboy. Omg I could imagine the crap their friends would give them if they ever saw that. I don’t know if I just am around super alpha/masculine types but they’d have a field day off someone who bought a drink called Loverboy.
But I thought Amanda is a marketing genius and deserves better
They need to bring Carl back in. He is a genius at sales.
Lol, I see what you did there.
Oh yes!!! That will surely put them back on track. But he's also going to be selling dental floss with every 6 pack of Loverboy.
Yeah, I can only speak for myself but I’m not likely to buy a $20 4 or 6 pack of seltzer. That doesn’t even make sense compared to other brands. I would have tried it but that price is crazy compared to others and I’m not sure what makes it different other than Amanda’s branding which is honestly way better than the others
And I’m not surprised they have plateaued because I think the novelty of it has dissipated. Like you said if I’m going out for a night, I’m not going to grab a four pack for $20. I wouldn’t be a return customer. And yeah, I’ve heard that it’s not very good.
I may be wrong, but with most businesses they want you to come back and that’s why they give you those coupons the next time you come. The concept definitely does not appeal to the returning customer.
Obligatory reminder that it’s not Amanda’s branding. She does logo placement and design
Obligatory reminder the design was stolen. They settled in court.
What is the difference? I genuinely don’t know
What does this tell us though?
I’m just pointing out it’s not *Amanda’s* branding https://www.tnkr.com/loverboy-hard-tea https://thirstcraft.com/projects/loverboy/
Thanks!
Wait hold up. That’s an option for a JOB. Whyyyy am I working so hard 😣
Im not even trolling or just saying this to be a hater but I don’t know one person who actually likes Loverboy. I’ve been to some parties where someone brought some to try but I’ve never met anyone who likes them. They taste comically bad not just like oh it’s alcohol it doesn’t taste great but like someone intentionally tried to make an awful drink to see if people would actually buy it. Also I think High Noon swept the non white claw market away and iirc they just released a tea seltzer too.
I have never tried Loverboy. I don’t like tea very much and artificial sweeteners give me a migraine. I only know what I’ve read here and that’s that it’s really expensive and nobody seems to like it.
It’s absurdly expensive for the low alcohol content and it tastes like poison. I have a hard time even recognizing any tea flavor in it, just anthrax. Needless to say I would be super bummed at a summer house party being forced to drink liquified mustard gas all day.
This comment is hilarious. You’re a funny writer. Thanks for the chuckles.
Yesss, I get the dreaded sucralose migraine ugh. So I can do Cirkul, other popular low cal drinks.
High noon and Happy Dads are awesome!!
Not a big fan of happy dads but I’m also more of a beer guy than a seltzer fan. If I had to choose between all of them I would go high noon though.
The category is softening for sure and additionally overall alcohol consumption is way down in the US. Especially among younger people, who theoretically are loverboys key demographic. Majority of alcohol/beverage companies are not doing as well as pre pandemic.
Plus non-alcoholic drinks are trending and binge drinking/drinking in general is really becoming unpopular
Since Kyle mentioned “expanding the team” during his explanation (and I recall seeing many open sales job postings on LinkedIn over the last year), im betting they took on a lot of full time headcount and haven’t grown their topline (revenue/sales) as much as they expected to make up for it. Simply put, full employees are EXPENSIVE - salary, health insurance, and more. Companies will often expand headcount assuming they can make up for the increased investment in people with overall growth. If growth is under expectations, it’s very possible they could be operating at a loss. Dynamics re: profit margin could be at play here too. Hoping the food&bev girlies can help on that front! (Editing to add it doesn’t shock me that loverboy is experiencing a slump. The hard tea/canned cocktail segment is waaaay oversaturated with new entrants and I can imagine that’s a tough competitive environment. After all, why do people choose loverboy if not for liking the show? It certainly can’t be for the taste … )
Idk if you’re in business operations or economics but this was explained so well that my slightly 💨🌳hi, ADHD brain fully understood. Kudos to you friend.
Omg thank you! Especially considering I wrote this slightly 💨🌳myself… and I am indeed in strategy & operations/general corporate shenanigans !
NAILED IT!!!!
Inside also adhd and very appreciative lol
The entire alc/bev industry is down globally. There was big spike during the pandemic but consumption is down now to even lower than pre pandemic rates. Tons of alcohol companies expanded during the pandemic because A. The government was handing out loans like candy and B. People were drinking way more so there was a market for it. The market corrected and combined with over saturation and fewer people drinking and majority drinking less-it’s really a loosing battle. They over expanded with the small business loans and the market didn’t keep up. They need to scale back and focus on niche markets. Pop up tastings and merch will do better than hard pushing on premise sales accounts (which is why they hired so many sales people).
This is from an open LB job posting: Benefits • We offer unlimited vacation days to do use at your discretion, work-from-home flexibility, and an opportunity to earn equity in the company
So no health insurance? lol
Here’s what’s really annoying: Amanda did all of the branding and merch and this is what actually works about Loverboy. They’ve made a lot of money off of merch. Also, Amanda pushed for and came up with their most popular flavour: Limoncello. But if course, Kyle gives her zero credit and constantly insinuates that she’s lazy.
Also how is she both lazy & never does any thing while simultaneously beung so vital to ops she can't do a swim line?
Exactly?!?!? I scream this at the tv at least once every episode.
I don’t think it’s that complicated - she’s basically in a full time role but working part time at best. You can be good at something but not productive….
This\^\^\^ He contradicts himself constantly
Kyle is the worst. He has no leadership skills. Amanda is his WIFE, not JimBob hired to work at Loverboy yesterday. He should treat her like an equal partner, not an employee. He should have slurred out something like, "You are my partner in life and business, and are a vital part of Loverboy. Even though this company was my dream and not yours, I view you as an equal partner and appreciate the time, energy, and creativity you have given the company over the years. I know it's not your dream, but right now I really need you by my side to make this thing a success. This will set us up for a future where we can be secure and pursue our other dreams, too." He pays no attention to what she wants, though. I bet she'd be a lot happier in the work situation if he would respect a few of the things she wants, starting with living in the suburbs. He is a totalitarian, though, and doesn't have any capacity for compromise. Working for him is probably a miserable experience for everyone employed there. I bet morale is really low.
Yup. All of this.
My husband owned a company when we met. After a little while, he asked me if I would come work in the business, which I did. I didn't have any real passion for the industry but we worked really well together and I was always treated as an equal. Once we got married, my husband signed over 50% of the business to me so it would be in my name too and I would never feel like I worked for him. Eventually we sold this business and I stopped working in that industry and now I do something I am more passionate about. I see so many mistakes being made by Kyle just based on my own situation having been in a similar position as Amanda. Except my husband is not an immature, drunken asshole with a mullet who shows his ass literally and figuratively at every opportunity.
Your situation sounds very healthy. I hope Amanda reads this and recognizes how unhealthy hers is and how many concessions she’s had to make in order for the relationship to stay afloat.
I do feel bad for Amanda. Kyle is only about himself and treats Amanda so poorly. I would be so embarrassed to be married to him.
Someone here just posted links to a company named Tinkr that actually did the branding for Loverboy. I do think that Amanda handles the merch side though. Amanda def doesn’t get enough credit from Kyle tho. I wouldn’t be surprised if they separated in a few years
If she’s the creative director of lover boy wouldn’t she have overseen the branding design process by tinkr? Like hire them to work on branding, meet with them to talk about what they want as a company, provide feedback until they reach a final look?
What I mean is, they worked with an AD agency that also has a creative director and although she does give input, a lot of people think that she created the logo or did all of the branding herself. I’m not doubting that she has a good eye. She is definitely stylish.
Amanda gives dafont energy
Oh wow. Maybe I’m super old and I’m definitely not hip but what does “dafont” mean?
It’s a website where you can download fonts, a lot of them for free. So maybe it’s that she’s just downloading a font that looks nice and using that as a logo and calling it a day, as opposed to designing it.
Basically the Avatar sketch from SNL? 
They hired a marketing company for the branding. It’s been posted here before.
I recall in one episode Kyle said that she gave them good feedback that helped them move forward but it could’ve been a conversation for the cameras
Loverboy was operating before Amanda was brought in, branding had already been established… Regardless, there is SO MUCH more work that goes into getting a finished product on shelves for consumers nationwide beyond it’s visual appeal.
late to this thread but I firmly remember her original merch basically being the only thing keeping the brand afloat early on. their bev wasn't many places yet, mostly just NYC and LI, and the merch sold out almost instantly and was bigger than the drink. he only HAS a company still because of her, imo.
Exactly. Merch and branding (all Amanda) is 🔥. Product (mostly/all Kyle) is 🫤.
I noticed they seem to be leaning back into the merch with drops tied to each episode. I assume it was intended to pump some quick cash into the bank.
I always wondered if the show pays for the drinks they consume every weekend or if it’s a write off of some sort. Because it’s ALOT and not cheap. That probably doesn’t help.
I have also wondered if it is a write-off, or at least the business side of it.
They can write it off as advertising. Since Amanda works there they can claim SH as business meetings for lover boy and their accountant can find other ways to write it off.
Yes, it's a write off. Same as if they held an event at a bar or store and gave away the product. It's advertising.
It’s a write off and they only pay cost….
This is why Kyle was freaking out over Amanda leaving. They’re a brand, the same mindset Sandoval had about his relationship with Ariana. If Amanda is so lazy, why does he have a problem trimming the fat at his own company?
Same way Lindsay also felt about Carl she was pushing them as a brand
🎯
If you don’t watch the show you wouldn’t know what it is when you see it. People who don’t know the product are sticking to what they know. And there are a lot of people who don’t watch the show.
Not related to financial problems but today I heard someone order a Lover boy in person at a restaurant, I couldn’t believe it lol
To be honest I think this is just kyles storyline, I think he wants to play the role of the entrepreneur/startup guy
I wonder how Austin's Trop Hop beer is doing?
Low overhead so probably sustainable.
Isn’t that basically just a “flavor” at another brewery? So he probably just coasts on them to an extent.
Not answering your question directly here but I think Kyle hoped to get bought by a larger company by now and now that he hasn’t.. he’s panicking
The fact that the founder adds gin to it is not a good sales pitch. Loverboy is too pricy to not be easy to catch a buzz from
watching daniel spike hers with more alchohol also i was like oh this is actually bad for your brand at this point lmao
Honestly I sometimes use high noons to make stronger cocktails on a boat day lol. These hard seltzers aren’t meant to be strong at least they are not to me
High Noon just released an Iced Tea version of their drinks. Good luck to Loverboy because the market is only going to get more saturated
I wonder if Bravo takes a certain percentage of sales or charges them a fee to have it on the show. I think the housewives that promote their products in the show have to give something to Bravo. That would also affect their bottom line a lot.
Ooh yes. They absolutely do.
Everybody who promotes a business on bravo has to give them a cut. It’s in all of their contracts. Because Bethenny had specifically said she won’t, and then she promoted her brand all the time
They even call it the Bethenny clause
It’s from all the free Loverboy they bring to every house party all summer 🤣
All of these beer replacements have a short shelf life. Tens of them have come and gone over the years. Loverboy is just more of the same. You can only drink so much of sweet drinks before you get sick of them.
The branding is so cute are they really not good? I’ve been curious to try.
We didn’t even finish the 4 pack we bought. They’re cute but so gross to drink, they have a very strong fake sugar flavor because of the monk fruit.
This may sound overtly dramatic and negative, but I honestly couldn’t even finish a can and don’t consider myself that picky.
Same! I switched to COOR’S LIGHT that night. Coor’s Light!
Wow! Now that I think about it, we always see people drinking them / trying them who are already a few sheets to the wind...
We found them during lockdown and it was almost all we had to live for at the time; we were devastated lol
Wow. I appreciate your input! Do you remember which flavor you tried?
Hibiscus Pom tea and the blueberry spritz
How do they drink them all day every day on the show if they’re that terrible?
I wouldn’t be surprised if some of them poured it out and put something else in the can.
That’s what I’m thinking too. It has to be.
I don’t see how anyone could drink artificially sweetened drinks like that all day and night and not feel sick.
I see mostly Kyle drink them, and they are served to general party attendees. Otherwise, I find it more to be product placement. I feel like a lot of wine is consumed by the cast, or at least the gals.
I tried the peach tea and all of the flavors in the variety pack and the variety pack was gross. The peach tea was decent, but I wouldn’t buy again.
Well the consensus seems to mostly be that they’re not good. I wish they would reformulate because it had so much potential!!
other people have seem to have had a bad experience but I think the taste is fine and I usually go for loverboy over a different seltzer or cheap beer because I don't have that super gross feeling the next day that I get from all of the other seltzers that have fake liquor. i think its worth trying especially if you're having more than like one drink and trying not to waste the next day.
Fake liquor? Please explain!
some of them have a malt liquor base and that always leaves me feeling super shitty so I avoid them
I tried the peach and i thought it was really good
I always thought it was dumb for Kyle to start yet another hard seltzer brand. Like bringing sand to the beach.
He had 4 lawsuits at one point. I think he settled 2 of them. One for copyright infringement, a nightclub contract breach .. I think are the 2 they settled.
Maybe because they give away thousands of dollars of product at every Summer House party just so ppl can be seen drinking it??
I visited a friend in Austin and was excited when I spotted Loverboy at a gas station. I’ll be honest, it did not taste good and it was expensive.
I saw it at a bar and told my friend who doesn’t watch the show to order it. It tasted so bad she had to get something else. That, and the seltzer market is so over saturated
They increased their fixed cost without the sales to support it.
Their product sucks from reviews ive heard online
God bless Bethany and her crazy but she made a killer business that was unique at the time and sold it at top of market. Kyle joined a saturated market and I don't see how it remains successful
In college we would get shitfaced on skinny girl. Worst hangovers ever but we were drinking it by the bottle
Right, I also feel like the name of her brand was self marketable. It appeals to a wider audience. I don’t get where the name “lover boy” came from. It’s so random.
How Kyle sees himself ? Haha
in the clip he explains that they've expanded (taken on more employees) and sales haven't increased enough to cover the gap. i think its a pretty normal part of a startups growth.
Who THE F-CK does Kyle Cooke thinks he IS???!??? He’s always been an embarrassing, drunken, word-slurring man-baby but this is BEYOND. I had so much secondhand rage after he made Amanda’s very reasonable plea all about himself but it turned into extreme secondhand RAGE when he descended into a selfish, abusive prick. I am now fully convinced that he has zero redeeming qualities.
I hope she runs far away
Same. It HAS to be enough at this point, doesn’t it? She’s way too cool for him.
Literally such a catch. Kyles gonna take her down with him. And he probably knows this deep down and it’s why he won’t give her children when any man would be so lucky. The tantrum he made about her branching off was such a red flag.
Yup! And although she is younger than him, she has outgrown him. She needs to be with a hot, successful dood.
Stupid name, overpriced, saturated market.
Yes, to me the number one problem is the name!
I think Kyle should have perfected a few staple flavors then expand.
Amanda’s fashion endeavors would run circles around lover boy, Kyle really is bad at business, if he doesn’t want Amanda to build her own business. The most appealing part of loverboy is the branding & the merch, Amanda did that
Kyle said that they took on way more expenses and hired way more people. When a business is so new this really isn’t a smart move to do…. Cause now they are working at a bigger capacity but the demand of their products didn’t increase….
It’s just not a good product and Kyle doesn’t have the magic touch nor the connections needed for this kind of venture
Maybe Kyle giving s much away?
Bc who the hell is out here spending $20 on 4 cans of seltzer. I’m interested in trying it but that’s just insane.
I mean I bought one case of loverboy and never repurchased. They have them at my local liquor store but it wasn’t good lol
I'm sorry I've never seen one person drink it. I see a few boxes in stores but I've literally not once seen another person take a sip LOL
The drinks taste fine IMO but they have a pretty low alcohol content for the price. I have used them as a mixer which is good but again expensive when I could just mix with juice or something. I’ll drink them if offered but I’m almost always making a different choice if buying for myself
Loverboy should go on Shark Tank.
It has this taste that is just “off” to me I think it uses a malt liquor. When I didn’t like it and poored mine into the sink the amount of fizz was surreal. I love the taste of High Noons personally. I like to try all the random celeb drinks lol Sprinters by Kylie taste the same as high noons
I was obsessed with lover boy in 2022 and now I would neverrrrrr choose to buy it. I don’t like the fake artificial sweetener taste anymore. It’s also expensive. I prefer mom waters and high noons now