“If they were prevented from doing so, they would be discriminated against for the simple fact of being a foreigner. The origin of the capital is not an impediment to having a tequila brand,” said Arochi.
Appropriation or Misogyny
Jenner hasn’t been the only artist to have her own tequila line. In Mexico, actress Kate del Castillo heads the production of Honor tequila and the late Jenni Rivera had her tequila called La Gran Señora.
Likewise, characters such as the American singer Nick Jonas, the Puerto Rican Daddy Yankee, the basketball player Michael Jordan, Dwayne ‘La Roca’ Johnson and the actor George Clooney are just some of the artists who have joined the tequila industry, but who have not been as harshly criticized as the young woman.
More about 818, Kendall Jenner’s tequila!
“Kendall’s tequila is cultural appropriation, but George Clooney’s is not?” Said another user in a message on Twitter to point out that perhaps it was a case of misogyny towards the young businesswoman rather than a case of outrage from the cultural heritage.
For González Figueroa, foreign investment in the tequila sector is not a negative thing and he considered that this “benefits its internationalization and access to new markets”, in addition to the fact that “all jobs and the economic spillover from it remain in the country” thanks to the appellation of origin model.
“Of the 1,700 brands of tequila that exist, 303 are packaged abroad, but 100 percent of the tequila produced for these brands is made in one of the 163 tequila distillers in the region of the appellation of origin”, said the director of the CRT.