Stretches the masses

Rektguy did not hit its free NFTs on the Ethereum -Blockchain in 2022 – but three years later the brand became incredibly familiar with the expression “sold out”, in which the brand stretches drinks consecutive drops and reaches more and more consumers.

The brand, which has passed a brutal crypto-hike market, thanks in part to the power of its fiery community, has now sold more than 600,000 cans of stretching drinks, a non-alcoholic, flared sparkling water that comes in different flavors. And this week the brand earned placement on 7-Eleven, starting with a trio stores in southern California.

Brands co-founder Ovie Faruq (AKA OSF) told Decrypt That it is “rather funny” that the original Rektguy NFT supply did not make it. The project, which started as an art collection and a “side quest” for Faruq, has since noticed its way in a leading web3 brand, where drinks helps to go beyond the blockchain.

(Publication: Ovie Faruq’s Canary Labs is an investor in Dastan, the parent company of Tapijtradio and Decrypt.)

“We had a kind of decision to make. We didn’t really promise anything, there was no roadmap, no promises – it was really just meant as an art collection,” he said about Rektguy. “But in the next two years we just seemed to have this really super sticky, close -knit community that held around.”

It was in the summer of 2023 when ideas began to bloom about potential extensions.

“We talked about Rektguy versus stretching like a concept for a while. We had set up the logo a few things, and it felt like this stretching thing could be a brand,” Faruq said, adding that the goal was given the logo in as many places as possible.

Drinks felt like a natural connection, according to Faruq, partly thanks to the possibility to produce them cheaply – plus the connection to Rektguy’s sculptures, with a skeleton with a hood with a drinking bone.

Without experience in drinks, the team brought an adviser who had started a beverage company in the UK. By trial and error they got cans stretched in the hands of those present in NFT Paris in 2024 – and they liked it.

“The feedback was really good. It was surprisingly good,” Faruq said. “Given that we had no experience with drinks, we just have a bit like making this drink to fuck and find out, so to speak. It was really, really good feedback.”

From there, the team decided to try and sell a larger batch, which led to the first major sale of liquidated lime drinks last October – a collection of 222,000 drinks it was sold out in 48 hours.

Prior to the sale, a reward program has built up to encourage users to get in touch with the brand, so that drunk reward points to those who participated in social quests and also drink buyers. By earning points, users later eligible to stretch coin (stretch), a Ethereum-Based token bound to the brand.

“I was really inspired by the Solana phone,” Faruq said about the Solana SagaAn Android smartphone that was initially confronted increased. “Nobody has touched it, TON offer left – but as soon as people could claim a $ 500 bonk, the phone was sold out within 24 hours.”

After the first success, the brand collaborated with Ethereum Layer-2 Network Abstract for a drop of abstract Apple, a new taste of its sparkling water, which is sold out even faster than before.

“After that we just had tons of people who contact us for collaborations,” said Faruq, whose brand also dropped drinks via Collabs with NFT Marketplace OpenSea and Solana Decentralized exchange aggregator, Jupiter.

But the connections were not always easy beyond the cryptom walls.

“Nobody really heard of us outside of crypto. We have done the first sale, and people wonder if this is a hit miracle kind of things,” he said, adding that the brand’s crypto-verb jump in the first instance also led to any skepticism. “You tell people the story, they showed some interest, but there wasn’t really a lot of movement,” he added.

But after the abstract and open-sea drops, the brand began to pick up some momentum that took place in its placements in 7-Eleven stores, so that stretching was placed next to giants of the beverage industry.

“With 7-Eleven I just think we had a very strong pitch for them,” Faruq said. “This is the perfect product for a 7-Eleven store, and we can bring a lot of people to the stores when we launch it and make it a very big thing and a really good launch. They were on board.”

The brand carried out its first 7-Eleven activation on Thursday and won its initial planned stock of 600 cans. The cans were priced at $ 2.80 per doll, or $ 10 for a 4-pack. Another event took place on Friday, with the last set for Saturday. And early 4-pack buyers also earn a allocation of Rektokens every day.

“[You] Never really know if people will be about to be a crypto event, “Faruq said Decrypt of the first Thursday event. “But we had a good turnout, and all sold out drinks were clearly fun.”

Published by Andrew Hayward