The Return of Travis Scott's Cacti Seltzer Brand Leaves a Bad Taste
Travis Scott's quiet reemergence into the public sphere is getting louder by the day. Having already returned to the stage and dropped Nikes, Scott is apparently prepping to bring back Cacti, his seltzer brand.
Cacti was shut down, like so many other Scott-related endeavors, in the wake of the 2021 Astroworld disaster, for which Scott has been hesitant to accept responsibility.
But, after ending a couple months of laying low by announcing "Project HEAL," Scott is back like nothing ever happened.
He's headlining festivals again and preparing to roll out Utopia, his ironically-titled new album, and seemingly getting ready to relaunch Cacti.
Cacti's Instagram account has been reactivated, with comments enabled on all but the latest post, which was uploaded on November 4, one day before crowd crush killed several Astroworld Festival attendees.
Though Cacti hasn't posted since — and neither Scott, his Cactus Jack imprint, Cacti, nor Cacti brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev has issued a recent statement regarding the drink brand — Scott's Instagram has also become more active, whereas he hardly posted at all between December and March.
Though Cacti's website is up and running sans merch, Cacti's Twitter account remains inactive and Cacti's YouTube channel still hasn't uploaded any videos.
Cacti was an instant smash when it launched in 2021, with stockists reporting "strong sales," according to Anheuser-Busch CEO Michel Doukeris.
“Several [retailers] are saying that they have never seen anything like this before: sold out within one day,” Doukeris said in March 2021.
Personally, I really didn't enjoy Cacti — I'm open to a seltzer here and there but I found Cacti's pineapple flavor truly unpleasant — but the main takeaway here is that brands that stopped supporting Scott after Astroworld have begun rejoining his ranks, begging the question of how soon is too soon to again support figures of Scott's ilk?
Nike already dropped Scott's latest sneakers and apparel, after all.
"After careful evaluation, we have decided to stop all production and brand development of Cacti Agave Spiked Seltzer," Anheuser-Busch said on December 11, 2021, though a source close to Scott claimed that the drink wasn't gone for good at the time.
Seems like they were correct.
Like it or not, the swift resurgence of Scott and his brands leaves a bad taste in your mouth, not unlike Cacti itself.
"Scott is a free man and has the right to express what he pleases," Elaine YJ Lee of Highsnobiety pointed out a couple months ago. But "we the people must also think twice before jumping to support him so fast and look back on the magnitude of the real issue."
It's been only eight months since Astroworld. Are we already thirsty for more of Scott's hard selzter?
