- Kendall Jenner is accused of cultural endorsement for her new tequila brand.
- A tequila expert and professor reflected on why people might criticize Jenner.
- She notes that other celebrities with tequila brands, such as George Clooney, have not been criticized in the same way.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Almost immediately after Kendall Jenner posted a fun Instagram announcement in which she unveiled her new tequila brand, 818, she started to get a little warm.
While many friends, fans and family members praised the model and the reality star’s new venture, which she kept secret for almost four years, many critics on social media say Jenner has no right to go into the tequila industry, because she is not Mexican.
The critical comments ranged from people asking Jenner to acknowledge the distillery in Jalisco where her tequila was made, and to the workers involved in making the drink into accusations of cultural appropriation.
The question of whether someone who does not make tequila in Mexican should be considered cultural appropriation is not for us or one person to decide.
But in search of further insight into the matter, we spoke to Marie Sarita Gaytán, the associate professor of sociology and gender studies and author of ‘¡Tequila !: Distilling the Spirit of Mexico’, who shared her thoughts on the critique – and in the particular – shared. , why the outrage over Jenner’s venture is so prominent when she’s just the latest in a long line of non-Mexican celebrities making their own tequila.
Jenner is far from the first non-Mexican celebrity to introduce a tequila label
By far the most prominent and financially successful tequila business to date, George Clooney and Rande Gerber made their brand Casamigos a household name in 2013 and eventually sold them to Diageo in 2017 for $ 1 billion. consequence.
Michael Jordan and a team of four others have created a tequila that will suit their palate in 2019. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Nick Jonas, Rita Ora, rapper E-40, Adam Levine and Sammy Hagar, AC / DC, Justin Timberlake and Sean “Diddy” Combs are also among the celebrities who put their names and faces behind the Mexican spirit.
While it is clear that the supermodel and reality TV star did not start the tequila trend among her famous peers, it is also self-evident that she is more – or at least more visibly – criticized than the rest of them.
Gaytán believes the contradiction of the setback is important to consider and points to Jenner’s gender
Gaytán, a tequila expert, says the issue is not straightforward, and that the debate does not have one clear answer.
“As my colleague Paisley Rekdal, the author of ‘Appropriate: A Provocation’, reminds us, these debates are too often set up in terms of right or wrong, good or bad,” the professor and author emailed Insider said. “There’s always more to them. These issues are thorny.”
Gaytán also agreed that tequila brands introduced by other non-Mexican celebrities before Jenner’s did not elicit the same reaction in her memory. “When people express indignation over Kendall Jenner’s tequila, I wonder why there hasn’t been the same reaction to the introduction of brands by Justin Timberlake, Nick Jonas or Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson?” she said.
Gaytán suggested that some critics would use the idea that Jenner was ‘in it for the money’ as grounds to attack her business. But she says the reasoning just does not cut it [because] they are all in it for the money. ‘
She also pointed out that ‘there was almost no question of cultural appropriation’ around Clooney and Gerber’s massive Casamigos sale, suggesting that Jenner’s gender may have something to do with the setback.
Jenner joins Rita Ora (who is a partner of a Mexican distiller rather than a brand owner) and Bethenny Frankel (who started her SkinnyGirl cocktail with a margarita) as one of the few women in the celebrity tequila space. Of the three women and their businesses, Jenner and her prominent leadership position in 818 are probably the most visible.
“When women step ‘outside the bounds’, whether in politics, business or in this case culture and entrepreneurship, it gets on their nerves,” Gaytán said. “It’s a much more interesting story for me.”
Gaytán explained why she believes Mexicans and Mexican Americans are reacting strongly to 818 at this particular moment
Timing is also a factor, and many consider Jenner’s tequila launch to be the last straw in repeated cases of cultural appropriation – by Jenner and her family in particular, and by wealthy and powerful individuals in general.
“In the case of tequila (and similar products of national origin), it appears that accusations of cultural appropriation occur when an acquaintance from another cultural background (ie, not Mexican) acquires or establishes their own brand,” Gaytán said. .
“To some extent, everyone is doing cultural appropriation,” she added. “Everyone. This does not mean that the effect of each one’s allocation of a cultural product is the same – power, access, representation, all these dimensions come into play. “
She told Insider that one root of the problem causing the outrage is that Mexican goods and culture (like tequila) hold more value in the U.S. than Mexican people.
“For Mexicans and Mexican Americans living in the United States, it’s definitely fun to see another non-Mexican coin emerge from their culture,” Gaytán said. “Why can it sting? Well, even as I write, real Mexicans – mothers, fathers, children – are in cages placed there by the US government. That can not happen in a country that respected Mexicans as people. “
Does Jenner’s audience pay more attention to issues of cultural appropriation than the audience of Jordan or Clooney? Can be
While timing and gender may be factors here, I would argue that audience is another that can be just as powerful.
Consider how different Clooney and Gerber’s audience is from Jenner’s. When the two men dated Casamigos in 2013, it could be seen that their celebrity friends were drinking the liquor. The price point made it ideal for any adult with a disposable income to purchase a tequila that connected them to the icy coolness of Clooney without breaking the bank.
Eighteen- to 35-year-olds, who may be more focused on cultural appropriation issues, were (and still are not) exactly the brand’s target market.
But Jenner’s entire brand as a millennial existence is based on demographics. Her audience consists largely (though not exclusively) of millennials and Gen Zers who are deeply involved in and active on social media and who pay close attention to issues of racial equality – and who are not ashamed of cases of cultural appropriation. not to call them see them.
Finally, it is not uncommon for Kardashian-Jenner family members to scrutinize movements
Kendall is not the first in her mixed, well-known family to be criticized for making a business decision or accusations of cultural appropriation.
Kim Kardashian West’s Skims shapewear originally called Kimono until she was called out to claim and change the name of the traditional Japanese garment.
Kylie Jenner got heat for the performance in Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s “WAP” music video, and many critics call the cameo “unnecessary” in a video that otherwise celebrated “Black female excellence”.
And several members of the family, including Kylie, Khloe and Kendall herself, have been asked to use black hairstyles. Kim was even accused on her cover of Black Face magazine, which critics say was inspired by racist images.
Eventually, Jenner may make a tequila brand problematic, but it is no longer Casamigos or any other celebrity tequila launch that has come before it. And it’s important to consider why people now only call it cultural appropriation.
Representatives of Jenner declined to comment when Insider reached out.