WaterTok is a trend on the social media platform TikTok. The WaterTok trend is mainly about drinking water – hence the name WaterTok. „Water“ is English and means „water“. But WaterTok is not about normal, usually rather tasteless water. Creators share many more, sometimes unusual recipes for tasty water mixtures.
The ingredients for these water-based drinks almost always include water, ice, sugar-free syrup and flavouring powder. Although these water-based drinks mostly taste like cocktails, the focus of the WaterTok trend is very much on drinking enough water every day and making it easier for people who otherwise struggle to drink enough regular water to do so through tasty mixes.
Where did the sudden boom in WaterTok videos come from?
The flavour powders used in WaterTok come pretty much exclusively from the company Skinny Mixes. Whether this is a highly successful marketing strategy or the company has come to its sudden popularity like the virgin to the child is not known. Nonetheless, since WaterTok’s surge in popularity, Skinny Mixes has seen record sales and says it is struggling at times to meet the high demand for flavour powders.
What is Skinny Mixes?
Skinny Mixes, the manufacturer of the flavour powders used in WaterTok, is a company founded in 2009 that produces a variety of sugar-free syrups and flavour powders for coffee creations, soft drinks or, indeed, water recipes. According to the Skinny Mixes website, the company wants to empower people to live more health-consciously without having to restrict their taste.
Under which hashtags are the WaterTok videos found?
The most popular hashtags in the WaterTok community are #flavoredwater, #hydrationtiktok and #watertok. As of April 2023, these hashtags have reached 318.5 million (#flavoredwater), 8.5 million (#hydrationtiktok) and 92.1 million (#watertok) views. The fact that almost all videos containing these hashtags are thematically related to WaterTok shows how engaged and focused the WaterTok community currently is. If there are many thematically unrelated videos to certain hashtags, it implies a sporadically interested community.
What recipes can be found on WaterTok?
The recipes shared on Watertok not only contain information about the ingredients, but also specify the drinking vessel. Of course, the amount of water and ice, the flavour powder and sugar-free syrup used is also specified and in most cases, how the drinks are prepared and then enthusiastically enjoyed is shown. Many of these videos regularly reach thousands of likes, comments and shares. A recent example is Tonya’s video showing her Piña Colada „Water of the Day“. As of April 2023, the video has over 8,500 shares, 250,000 likes, over 2,300 comments and three million views. The creator uses a Stanley Cup for her drink. This is a large, insulated drinking cup that can hold more than a litre of liquid. This drinking cup can be seen in many of the WaterTok videos and has become almost a trend in itself.
How do TikTok users react to the trend?
The viewers of Watertok videos are divided into two camps: Some are absolutely thrilled with the sugar-free syrups and flavour powders. They report that they would now drink more water and that the syrups and powders would help them to consume fewer soft drinks and other drinks containing sugar and calories.
The others debate whether the drinks are still considered water because of the flavour packets and syrups that are actually used for sugar-free soft drinks or are actually already a type of sugar-free soft drink similar to Diet Coke.
Is there any criticism of the WaterTok trend?
Supporters of WaterTok emphasise that the trend is primarily about drinking enough water and that it is therefore a health-promoting trend. However, critics complain that the sugar-free syrups and powders are not necessarily beneficial to health due to their flavouring ingredients and artificial flavours, and that it is still best to simply drink water without any other ingredients. Similar to other, sugar-free and flavourful drinks such as Diet Coke, the possible health consequences of sweeteners and other flavouring ingredients are either not sufficiently clarified or known to be rather harmful to health when consumed frequently and the increased amount of water due to the added chemicals no longer has any actual health benefits.