sofia c. cervantes








Behind the Label

“The club goer buying a bottle to share with friends behind the velvet rope of the VIP section may not realize he has a connection to a farmer in a Mexican field, but he does.”


Problem: The people who created tequila aren’t the ones defining it and it’s cultural significance is being stripped from the Mexican people. Celebrity-owned tequila brands have brought enourmous visibility to a spirit deeply rooted in Mexican history, culture, and labor. But as celebrity identity becomes the face of tequila, the people and traditions behind it are actively becoming background to the story.

Question: So who gets to define “authentic” tequila? The people who make it? The people who sell it? Or the people with the biggest audience?

Insight: When we don’t know enough to judge a product, we judge what’s easiest to see. Consumers in my research had limited knowledge of tequila’s production and cultural hisotry, so they relied on branding, ads, storytelling, social media, and celebrity familiarity to make judgements about the spirit.

Visibility starts to function as a form of authenticity.

What I Found:
Celebrity becomes the credibility shortcut: Consumers often evaluate the person behind the bottle as much as the product itself.

Visibility can look like authenticity: When deeper knowledge is limited, the brands we see most can cbecome the brands we trust most.

The celebrity tequila boom has consequences beyond the bottle: Growing demand has contributed to overproduction of agave and environmental strain on generational land, widening the gap between tequila’s commercial success and the families who produce it,

The loudest voices define the story: Celebrity brands have the reach to shape how tequila and the culture behind it is understood, represented, and remembered at scale.

Takeaway: The more tequila grows as a global commodity through celebrities, the further its success gets from the people, land, and culture that sustain it.
Celebrity tequila brands aren’t harmless sidequests that have no impact on the industry. Based on how tequila is currently being portrayed, they’re corrupting the story of Mexican history and it’s people. It’s an act of cultural gentrification that must be called out.

What’s next? Campaign concept in developement.
Advertising has the power to change everything. A 360-campaign where Mexican-owned tequila brands band together and reclaim the narrative.

Have 66 pages of time? View full thesis here.

Research Design
Research Questions
  • In the context of celebrity-owned tequila brands, how does a celebrity’s perceived sincerity, passion, and authenticity impact consumer trust, brand credibility, and purchase intent?

  • How do celebrity-owned tequila brands use advertising and branding to construct authenticity, and how do consumers interpret or challenge these representations?

  • What ethical tensions emerge from celebrity involvement in the tequila industry, particularly in relation to cultural representation, economic power, and the commercialization of a culturally rooted product?  

Methods
  • Literature-based analysis
  • 5 Qualitative Interviews
  • In-depth brand analyses (818, Casamigos, Teremana)
  • Public discourse analysis

Analytical Focus: Ethics & Celebrity Power