Description:

A Brand Built on “Brutal Honesty” (and Broken Budgets)
Departed Spirits had an unexpected problem: too much premium vodka, and not enough cashflow to sell it. Mezcal was trending. Vodka wasn’t invited to the party. Sales were down, recession loomed, and the budget was cooked. With no marketing spend and no time to spin a yarn, we built a brand from the only thing we had: the Brutal truth.

The strategy was simple. Stay in business. The idea was “brutal honesty”. In a category full of frosted glass and fake stories, we kept it real. Cashflow Vodka was made from surplus stock, no budget, and a team running on fumes. We didn’t hide it, we owned it. The story was the struggle. Because good product doesn’t need a big budget, just the boldness to say it how it is.

There was no time. It needed to be designed yesterday. The off-the-shelf brown bottle, intentionally wrong for vodka, became the perfect middle finger to the category’s sterile, frosted-glass sameness. The label featured brutalist type, inspired by a receipt. Deadpan copy. A name that says it all without trying. No gold foil. No fake heritage. Just a design that wears its honesty like a badge.

This wasn’t low budget. It was anti budget. In a world obsessed with craft and overdesign, Cashflow stood out by being proudly undercooked. It flipped the script, using lo-fi as a weapon, not a weakness. The tone was cynical. The execution, fast. But the result was clear—bold shelf presence, cultural cut-through, and a reminder that authenticity is refreshing.

Launched with no marketing spend and a broken wallet, Cashflow Vodka sold through quickly. It became a talking point and a proof point that a great idea, delivered without pretense, can still make noise. It bought the brand time, relevance, and a few extra months of rent.