Japan’s new ‘Leftover Bathwater’ drink is all spin, no suds

A Japanese company has just come out with an extremely unconventional way to sell water. The Village Vanguard novelty store has named its water brand “Leftover Bathwater� and slapped a very grown-up label on the bottles, but in spite of all the winking and nudging going on, it’s really just regular water that costs $3 a bottle.

Village Vanguard is a renowned purveyor of pranks, books, and novelty foods. Some of their previous offerings included miso ramen bath powder that promised to make bathers feel and smell like ramen noodles. Another one of their famous products was “brain ramen,� where the dried noodles were colored pink to look like brains. It was perfect for zombies and college students alike. Now, according to Sora News 24, Village Vanguard is selling its most not-safe-for-work product yet: bottles of “Leftover Bathwater.�

Village Vanguard’s Leftover Bathwater is available in “male� and “female� versions. The female version has a pink label with an anime-style woman in a bathtub. She looks horrified at the idea that someone wants to drink from that bottle.

“You’re going to drink the leftover bathwater?� says the woman on the label, looking appalled. “Are you crazy!? If you do that...you and I are through!!��

The male version has a blue label with an anime-style man in a bathtub. He also does not seem to think much of the idea of drinking bathwater.

“Drinking the leftover bathwater? Don’t be absurd. Just go dry yourself off,� he says.

This is all designed to seem as salacious as possible, but Leftover Bathwater is really just water. A disclaimer on the label clarifies that the water was never in a bathtub, and any scandalous thoughts are just the product of the drinker’s imagination.

“This is just water,� the label explains, according to Sora News 24. “Just water...it’s not leftover bathwater, just tasty water. But telling you that won’t be enough to suppress all the things you’re imagining as you drink this beverage made in the image of the leftover bathwater a beautiful woman (or man) was bathing in.�

It might not be real bathwater, but it is for sale. Both varieties are available for preorder on Village Vanguard’s site for around $3 a bottle, and they definitely belong on the list of the 20 weirdest aphrodisiacs around the world.