IDK about you, but the 2025 Waterboy brand trip controversy is all over my FYP — and internet users have lots of opinions. ICYMI, the electrolyte brand flew out a dozen popular influencers to Tulum in June 2025 and documented it on its TikTok. However, internet users have mixed feelings about how the trip was handled, and things are getting messy AF.
If this is your first time hearing about Waterboy, I’ll fill you in. Waterboy is an electrolyte and hydration powder — comparable to Liquid I.V. or LMNT — with nine times the amount of electrolytes found in popular sports drinks like Gatorade. Typically marketed to help with hangovers, Waterboy claims its product helps ease hangxiety and fatigue (where can I get a PR package?). Oh, and Connor Saeli from Hannah Brown’s season of The Bachelorette is a co-founder — so that’s, like, pretty cool.
Waterboy has been a popular product on TikTok for years, with influencers like Kennedy Eurich promoting the brand on the app since 2022. Not only that, but Waterboy has become known for its relaxed, sh*tposty, Gen Z-coded approach to TikTok. So, what’s up with the brand trip controversy — and why do people have so much to say about it? Here’s the lowdown.
What happened on the Waterboy brand trip?
On June 24, the Waterboy account “hard-launched” its new social media manager (content creator Madi Marotta) on the first day of the brand’s trip to Tulum. Since then, the brand continued to post goofy, unserious, vlog-style content of the trip — think, the kind of stuff you would post on a private Snapchat or your finsta. And, for some reason, the internet got super pissed about it.
Why? Well, many internet users feel like the brand trip was a little too “unprofessional” and failed the showcase the product it was promoting. “I’ve learned absolutely nothing about waterboy since she’s taken over,” one user wrote under a video from June 26. Under another video posted that same day, a user wrote, “so is this a personal page or a business page?”
Not only that, but users are also saying that, for a brand that promotes curing hangovers, Waterboy’s social media featured a lot of creators who were hungover. A user wrote under a video posted on June 25, “uhh isn’t this bad PR? thought waterboy was supposed to prevent/fix hangovers?????”
On June 28, in response to the backlash, Marotta posted a 10-minute compilation of Waterboy ads onto the official TikTok page. Safe to say, Marotta (and the Waterboy team) doesn’t really GAF about the internet’s opinions — and honestly? Why should they?
And, truthfully, the feedback isn’t all bad. Under the “response” video, users gathered to support Marotta and the brand’s social media strategy. “In all seriousness I didn’t even know waterboy existed before you took over,” one fan wrote. Another commented, “Seriously I didn’t hear about this brand til this brand trip. I’d say she’s killing it 😂.”
Listen, y’all — it’s not that serious. And, personally, I loved the laid-back, sh*tposty vibes of the brand trip. So, if you don’t like it, maybe just don’t watch it? *shrugs*