Call her daddy host Alex Cooper is receiving criticism from some of her fans after announcing on Wednesday that she is launching a collection of non-alcoholic drinks.
After posting several hints to her 3.2 million Instagram followers, Cooper announced she was launching Unwell Hydration, an electrolyte drink that will be sold at Target for $2.49 per bottle starting January 1. The bottles are available in three flavors: Strawberry, Mango Citrus and Orange Hibiscus. “Each bottle contains more than 700 mg of electrolytes, a blend of B-complex vitamins and a gentle boost of green coffee extract,” according to a press release.
“Women are often expected to juggle multiple roles and be everything to everyone, which is why I wanted to create a hydration drink that helps supplement what we give out,” Cooper said in the release.
The name of the product should not exactly come as a surprise. In August 2023, Cooper announced that she would be starting the Unwell Network, a Gen Z media venture and production company behind podcasts hosted by influencers including Alix Earle, Madeline Argy and Harry Jowsey.
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In January, Cooper told the New York Times that “merch alone is an eight-figure business for Unwell,” including several items labeled “unwell” in the same style as the new drink.
Cooper’s entry into the drinks world comes after years of success in the media. She started her podcast in 2018 with then-co-host Sofia Franklin, when it was owned and distributed by Barstool Sports. The two had a falling out and Franklin left the podcast in 2021. Months later, Cooper signed an exclusive deal with Spotify worth $60 million.
Call her daddy has seen huge success on Spotify. It was the second most popular video podcast on the streaming platform in 2024. In August, Cooper entered into a new partnership with SiriusXM for an estimated $125 million, which “includes a comprehensive exclusive content development strategy” with the satellite radio company.
It was after years of media success that Cooper showed she could expand her business into another domain.
“I’ve had almost a hundred meetings about white spaces in the marketplace,” Cooper told Parade. “I got cosmetics, I got fragrance, I got clothes, I got everything.”
But what appealed to her most was the release of a new drink.
“We don’t need another makeup brand,” she continued. “That’s a place where women dominate, which is great. But this is another moment in my career where I think, ‘Move over, guys. We don’t have to drink PRIME or Gatorade. ”
Cooper said Unwell Hydration is for her. “As you get older, you definitely start to realize that you want to take care of yourself,” she told Women’s Wear Daily. “If you think about not feeling well, it’s somehow related to a lack of hydration.”
The announcement doesn’t seem to excite some of her fans. “Is this a joke?” a Reddit user posted a response to the news on Wednesday. “Who asked for this?”
According to multiple social media posts (many of which, according to Snaxshot, a popular food and beverage substack, have been deleted) and several fans who spoke to Yahoo Entertainment, there’s a sense that Cooper seemingly just launched the product for money.
“This is so disappointing,” reads one comment on Cooper’s announcement on Instagram. “I wish you had done something more authentic to you and your brand, other than another drink at the grocery store.”
“You didn’t beat the boys. You joined them,” another person commented on her Instagram announcement post. “You have the money and scope to actually do something, and yet you chose to market an unnecessary product under the guise of feminism so you can make money off women. It’s just so disappointing.”
Still, many of Cooper’s fans, who call her “Father Cooper,” are eager to support her. “If Alex likes it, we like it,” someone commented on Instagram. “Run to the goal.”
“Whatever dad does, I’ll be there to support it,” another added.
Cooper is not the first popular influencer to develop a product in the food and beverage category. YouTuber Emma Chamberlain started Chamberlain Coffee in 2020; Logan Paul and “JJ” Olatunji – better known as KSI – dropped PRIME Hydration in 2022. MrBeast, the most famous YouTuber, launched several snacks that Amazon, Walmart and Target now sell.
Maria, who has asked Yahoo not to use her last name for privacy reasons, has been following Cooper since 2020. She said Cooper “comes across to me as someone who only pretends to care about things when it benefits her financially.”
“Everyone is aware of how super, super rich she is,” says Kayla, a Cooper fan who listened to it Call her daddy and prefers not to use her last name, Yahoo Entertainment tells us.
At the New York Times DealBook Summit on Wednesday, Cooper said she was working with Nestlé to produce Unwell Hydration.
“So many Americans are suffering right now,” Kayla explained. “To see someone like Alex… working together [Nestlé] on a product that will accelerate the destruction of our planet, for no reason other than to build its mountain of money higher, has left a bad taste in people’s mouths.”
Nestlé has been involved in numerous controversies involving developing countries for decades, including allegations of child labor, preventing access to non-bottled water, spreading misinformation about recycling and price fixing.
Some Redditors claimed that Cooper appears to have deleted some followers’ Instagram comments expressing concern that this was an “unethical business venture” due to its partnership with Nestlé.
Align Public Relations, which represents Cooper, declined to comment to Yahoo Entertainment, and Nestlé did not respond to Yahoo Entertainment’s request for comment.
