Kendall Jenner announced her latest business venture on Tuesday with a post on Instagram in which she explains her years-long process of creating “the tequila with the best taste”. But after the first images of the product named 818 after the area code of her hometown of Calabasas, California, were released, people on the Internet began to criticize the 25-year-old, calling it ‘gentrification’.
Kendall Jenner, who started a tequila brand without any knowledge of Mexican culture and calls it ‘818 tequila’, is EARNINGS. The 818 does not claim Calabasas. What about those smaller Mexican tequila / mezcal family-owned brands? They deserve the hype and support.
– Jennie Molina (@jenjocelyn) 17 February 2021
Shark @KendallJenner, with respect, as I tell my toddler, ‘it’s a no’ when it comes to hand making the best tequila in the world.
Too many real people, namely Mexicans, have at best actually made the tequila in which you are actually just endorsing. No bueno.
– Amanda Victoria (@amandagoodeye) 16 February 2021
Lucas Assis, a bartender from Brazil in Los Angeles who has experience in the tequila industry of his wife’s family in Mexico, tells Yahoo Life that he was “disappointed, but not surprised” when he found Jenner’s wind ‘s new brand.
“There was just a lack of respect for the culture and importance of tequila for Mexico. She did not even know how to drink tequila properly,” he says of Jenner’s announcement post. “For an outsider to come forward and say that within four years and without prior knowledge of the spirit she was able to taste tequila best is disrespectful.”
Assis posted a video on his social media explaining that Jenner’s 818 brand is an example of cultural appropriation.
In it, he draws attention to a number of pain points that many people in the Latinx community have talked about, including Jenner who tasted the tequila improperly with ice cubes in her cup, without labeling the bottles in Spanish and even signaling that four years all that was needed to create what she believes is the “tequila with the best taste”, if the agave – a plant from which tequila originates – takes double the time to ripen. All this shows that people who enter the industry, like Jenner, overlook the cultural importance of the agricultural product, says Assis.
“The plant is embedded in the country’s history and culture. Celebrities should have the detrimental effect of their brands on the tequila industry, but even the most important on the agriculture of the agave plant,” he explains. “Using Mexico’s culture and history for nothing but capital gains is cultural allocation. Not to mention leaving the small, family – owned distilleries that have been doing so for generations, struggling to keep up. keep up with the rising prices of agave, because farmers simply cannot keep up with demand. ‘
He continues: ‘Agaves take eight to nine years to fully mature, so now we see how the mega-distilleries harvest it when they are about three or four years old and use distributors and chemicals to extract the sugars, covering the whole process. and the spirit itself changes. , just to keep up with the demand created by the big brands and famous tequilas. ‘
Tired of the celebrity tequila craze! Do WTF @KendallJenner know of tequila, my family does all their lives in Jalisco for the rest of their lives in Jalisco, only to have their toes dipped dip stays in your lane.
– YB (@YaraB) 16 February 2021
And not to mention the profit from the brown hands that the agave plants in Jalisco actually plant, grow, harvest and distill
– LaMesaQueMasApluada (@estyledesma) 17 February 2021
While many have talked about the benefit to the workers in Jalisco, Mexico, others have discussed the issue of Jenner mentioning the 818 brand to appeal to the largely Latin demographics of the San Fernando Valley.
She mentions the name ATEQUILA 818 cuz 818 is mostly used by Mexicans / chicanos who live in the area … you would not mention a TEQUILA Jenner or Armenia or any other number or zip code.
– vanessa (@ vanessamarin38) 18 February 2021
Maybe Kendall Jenner should donate a percentage of every tequila bottle sale BACK to the 818 low-income communities. Since she wants to benefit from it.
– Lisss (@_ohlizz) 17 February 2021
Some people have nevertheless pointed out that Jenner seems to face more setbacks for the award of Mexican culture than a number of other celebrities who have pushed out their own tequila brands in the past – namely white men.
take very hot: I understand the frustration of Kendall Jenners tequila, but I have never seen the same energy for people like George Clooney, Rande Gerber, the rock, Nick Jonas, Adam Levine, etc. for approval and their tequila brands 🤷🏻♀️
– ali (@ c4ll_it_k4rma) 17 February 2021
“Maybe there’s some sexism in some people to see a young successful woman start a tequila brand,” says Assis. But while the general public might not take responsibility for holding George Clooney and Nick Jonas responsible for their tequila companies, Assis did.
“I’ve called out famous tequilas in previous videos before 818 was announced,” he explains. ‘I called out Elon Musk and his Tesla tequila, Casamigos [by Clooney] and even Dos Hombres mezcal by Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul. ‘
As for Jenner’s brand in particular, Assis suggests that ‘little has the influence she has’, which can contribute to the attention – both positive and negative – she gets. “If you’ve an old-fashioned tequila owned and run by women, look for ‘La Gritona’. It’s amazing, small groups and owned by women,” he says.
While claiming that ‘all celebrity tequila’ should be avoided in favor of supporting Mexican brands, Assis explains that there is a right way to get involved in the industry.
“Just do not use other people’s culture and history for anything other than capital gains. Respect the culture, do not pretend you know what it means, and do not claim it,” he says. “There are many ways to get involved in the industry and not take advantage of it.”
Read more about Yahoo Life:
Want to bring lifestyle and wellness news to your inbox? Sign in here for Yahoo Life’s newsletter.