Jason Momoa’s Water Brand Has a Marketing Challenge: You Can’t Bring It Into ‘Aquaman’ Theaters

Tony Maglio
·3 min read
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Jason Momoa is so dedicated to the elimination of single-use plastics, he wants you to sneak a bottle of his Mananalu water into “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” showings. Or at least the purified-water company’s outside PR does.

When “Aquaman 2” makes a splash into theaters this weekend, Mananalu wants you to “Skip the overpriced movie theater beverages and bring Mananalu,” a pitch email from the third-party public relations agency to IndieWire on Tuesday reads. Instead, they suggest, bring Momoa’s overpriced beverage — a special “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”-edition six-pack of 22-oz. Mananalu bottles will run you $29.99. (You can get a standard 12-pack of 16-oz. bottles for about $18 on Amazon.)

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“Jason doesn’t only protect our oceans on the screen, but also through his mission-driven brand that makes sustainability easy through its ‘Drink One, Remove One’ initiative, which removes one water bottle’s worth of plastic from the world’s ocean for every bottle purchased,” the pitch email continues.

It’s a great initiative with just one problem (beyond the price point): it is technically against the rules of most movie theaters to bring your own bottle of water. Removing “one water bottle’s worth of plastic from the world’s ocean” could get your body removed from a theater.

A spokesman for AMC Theatres, the largest exhibitor chain in the U.S., told IndieWire: “AMC does not permit outside food and drinks to be brought into the theater.”

The same goes for Alamo Drafthouse, where a rep told IndieWire bringing in Mananalu would “be against Alamo Drafthouse’s ‘no outside food and beverage’ policy.”

There are exceptions, a person with knowledge of AMC’s policy told us; if there are special circumstances, speak with a theater manager. As much as we love dolphins, we’re pretty sure saving the seas wouldn’t qualify in this case.

Bottles of Mananalu are available in some theaters in Hawaii. Attempts to reach Momoa’s personal management by phone were unsuccessful.

“Mananalu” breaks down like this: “Mana“ is the sacred spirit of life, and “Nalu” is a powerful wave that pushes across the ocean, its website reads. And from us: “Aloha” means hello, and goodbye, which you may hear on your way into the theater and your unceremoniously early way out.

On Momoa’s side, however, the risk of being booted for sneaking in your own beverage is rather minimal. And even if that happened, it would still beat the hell out of drinking Dasani, the Coca-Cola bottled-water brand that tastes like 1980’s hose water. (Most of the major theaters have a deal to exclusively serve Coke products in theaters.) There is always the water fountain; plus, you can usually get a complimentary cup of water at the concessions stand.

Jason Momoa<cite>Mananalu</cite>
Jason MomoaMananalu

While we commend Momoa’s mission (and yes, we understand the PR suggestion is tongue-in-cheek, as — we hope — is the tone of this story), right now he might want to worry more about the box office’s cash register than the one between the popcorn and Milk Duds.

As IndieWire’s box-office guru Tom Brueggemann wrote on December 14: “Until recent weeks, the consensus has been the ‘Aquaman’ sequel would dominate the season. The 2018 original opened pre-Christmas to $67 million for a $335 million domestic total and $1.15 billion worldwide, where it could still excel. However, stateside audiences have been disenchanted by sequels and by DC Comics, Marvel, and other FX-driven fantasy stories in particular.”

Speaking of duds.

“The much-delayed DC entry starring Jason Momoa remains unscreened a week before its initial international dates, with a domestic review embargo to follow,” Brueggemann continued. “It all suggests, but doesn’t prove, concern over audience reaction — and if it grosses $200 million domestic, that would be a victory.”

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