Is Blake Lively's 'Betty Booze' quietly shutting down?

Blake Lively's alcoholic beverage brand, Betty Booze, is “slowly shutting down”, according to a report TMZ published yesterday, November 4.

Lively, 39, began her company Betty Buzz in 2021, with a line of nonalcoholic sparkling mixers. The actor expanded the business in 2023 with Betty Booze, with ready-to-drink cocktails.

According to trademark records reviewed by TMZ, “Blake's company has filed several trademark applications since its launch”. But while Betty Booze and Betty Buzz's trademarks are still active, “multiple others related to the company have been abandoned.”

TMZ also notes that Betty Buzz hasn't posted on Instagram since April 5. And Betty Booze hasn't posted since September 28.

 

 

 

 

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Blake Lively's Betty Booze and Preserve companies

Betty Booze's reported shutting down would not be the first of her brands to close. Last year, her lifestyle website Preserve closed down quietly, without announcement.

Preserve was launched in 2014 as a high-end online shop for artisanal goods. The company deteriorated within a year with reports of a toxic environment. Preserve operated out of a Manhattan studio apartment owned by Lively's brother, Eric, who managed the day-to-day business.

Eric's reported unprofessional behaviour - including socialising with staff and substance use on site - was cited by employees as a major cause of business not succeeding.

Preserve officially shut down in 2015.

Are celebrity businesses always ‘curesed’ to fail?

In a story called Fame cannot save bad business: That's the harsh reality of celebrity beauty brands published by Mediaweek in October, Darren Woolley, Founder and Global CEO, TrinityP3, examined why so many fail.

“Recent news that The Outset, the skincare brand co-founded by Scarlett Johansson, is quietly ending was not unique,” Woolley wrote. 

"Four years after it launched in 2022, the company officially decided to wind down operations. The beauty industry quickly offered complicated post-mortems, pointing to everything from market saturation to changing consumer habits. 

"But the brutal truth is much simpler. Many celebrity brands in this category have closed in the past few years.

"Fame is a customer acquisition strategy; it is not a business model. Strip away the celebrity halo, and surviving the modern beauty, wellness, and fashion sectors comes down to two unglamorous things. 

“You need sharp marketing and sheer luck.”

Woolley says that price point is a huge factor.

"A brand must clearly align its price point with the product's perceived value. 

“Fenty Beauty by Rihanna and Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez did not succeed by accident. They succeeded because their marketing teams knew exactly who their customers were and priced their products to match that purchasing power, while delivering radical inclusivity through extensive shade ranges.”

Read more about what Woolley said about celebrity brand winners and losers, such as Rhode by Hailey Beiber, and Flower by Drew Barrymore, here.