Legendary rapper Biz Markie has signed on to be the face of Zevia‘s zero-calorie cherry cola. The rapper, who once weighed 385 pounds, went public with his 140 pound weight loss last year.
Biz attributed the loss to cooking healthy at home, and switching from sugary soda to stevia-sweetened Zevia. There’s a product placement if we’ve ever heard one.
Zevia CEO Paddy Spence tells Fast Co.Create:
Photo: Co.Create
The cans, designed with a 1970s pop art feel, are the product of a collaboration with Shepard Fairey’s art team, Studio Number One. Fairey, a celebrated graphic artist, is best known for his Obama “Hope” image, as well as the OBEYGIANT street art campaign.
Spence says that the can “really speaks to the connection emotionally that many of us have to soda, and when you’re David fighting Goliath, that’s the kind of thing you need. What they sought out to evoke was the nostalgia of soda.”
Co.Create reports that Zevia currently controls 78% of the natural soda industry, ranking #15 amongst diet sodas. It’s one of the biggest competitors to brands like Coke and Pepsi.
We’d drink Biz’s soda just to put that can in a place of honor on our desks.
[via Co.Create]