Alex Cooper’s Unwell Beverage Business Is Coming to an End

Alex Cooper built one of the biggest podcasts in the country with Call Her Daddy. Her attempt to turn that audience into a beverage empire, though, is reportedly winding down less than two years after it began.

How Unwell Hydration Got Started

Cooper launched Unwell Hydration in partnership with Nestlé at the start of 2025. The drinks hit Target shelves for $2.49 a bottle in three flavors: Strawberry, Mango Citrus, and Orange Hibiscus.

Each bottle was built around electrolytes, a blend of B-complex vitamins, and a gentle boost of green coffee extract for caffeine. The name tied directly back to Unwell, the Gen Z media company and podcast network Cooper had already launched in 2023.

Why She Built It Around Women

Cooper was direct about the gap she was trying to fill. Speaking at the New York Times’ DealBook Summit in 2024, she said every hydration or energy drink she’d ever picked up seemed to be marketed at men, packaging and all.

That observation shaped the entire brand. Rather than leaning on the high-performance, athlete-driven marketing common in sports drinks, Unwell positioned itself somewhere between a sports drink and a everyday wellness product, aimed squarely at women.

The drinks became a regular fixture on her own show. Bottles frequently sat on the table next to Cooper and her guests during Call Her Daddy episodes, and the lineup eventually grew to include protein and energy drinks beyond the original hydration formula.

What’s Actually Ending

According to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the plans, Unwell Beverage Co. is set to release a final run of Halloween-themed flavors before ending production entirely. Target, the brand’s primary retail partner, is expected to sell through its existing stock rather than reorder.

Once that remaining inventory sells out, the drinks will disappear from shelves for good. Representatives for Cooper, Nestlé, and Target have all declined to comment publicly, and as of the reporting, nothing has been officially confirmed by the companies involved.

What Comes Next for Unwell

The beverage shutdown doesn’t mean Unwell itself is going away. The broader company, which spans podcasts, merchandise, live events, and other media ventures, is continuing to grow separately from the drink line.

In fact, Unwell’s media business reportedly raised new investment the same week the beverage news broke, even as the Nestlé-backed drinks were being phased out. Cooper and her husband, Matt Kaplan, have been steadily building that side of the company alongside the podcast that made her famous.

The end of Unwell Hydration says less about Cooper’s brand overall and more about how difficult it is for creators to turn a large audience into a lasting physical product business.

Plenty of celebrity and influencer-backed drinks have launched with major fanfare only to quietly disappear once the retail math stops working, and Unwell’s beverage line looks set to become the latest example.