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‘Irresponsible’ Kendall Jenner slammed for drinking Tequila through straw
The model-turned-drinks-entrepreneur has been accused of ‘irresponsible advertising’ after posting a photo on social media of herself sipping her 818 Tequila straight from the bottle through a straw.
Kendall Jenner uploaded the photo on her Instagram account as part of a series of images captioned “Things I love”.
The photo, which is widely thought to have been taken at the wedding of her friend Lauren Perez, shows the celebrity sipping Tequila through a straw inserted directly into a 750ml bottle of her 818 Tequila.
Unimpressed commenters have accused Jenner of promoting binge drinking and of advertising her brand in an “irresponsible” way.
One member on discussion website Reddit said: “As an alcohol brand owner I feel that she shouldn’t really promote excess consumption. She’s not drinking from a shot glass, but a straw, and an entire bottle seems excessive.”
“Social media is a huge grey area but there’s strict rules about alcohol advertising in print and TV.”
Another commenter pointed out that while drinking through a straw “You don’t really know how much you’re drinking, and it’s pretty easy to argue consuming alcohol like this leads to overconsumption.”
A third Reddit user wrote: “I get that she wants to try to promote [her brand] in a cute, playful way but this seems a bit dangerous.”
It’s far from the first time that Jenner has attracted controversy for the way she chooses to market her product. In February 2021 she received a barrage of criticism for an 818 Tequila advertising campaign, which showed Jenner leading a horse through an agave field while wearing traditional Mexican dress and with her hair braided.
“This is so offensive. Modelling that chic migrant worker look for her Tequila brand,” one viewer wrote on Twitter in response to the ad.
Another Tweeted: “Is Kendall Jenner really wearing braids and pretending to be a farm worker while colonising Tequila? It’s a no from me.”
Kendall did not respond to accusations of cultural appropriation, but announced her brand would be using agave fibre waste to craft bricks for building houses in the local Jalisco community where her Tequila is made. She said at the time: “It’s important for us to be friendly to the local community”.
However, despite the various media storms, Jenner’s 818 Tequila continues to be enormously successful. It launched in the UK market in November 2021, with excusive distribution by The Bottle Club, after hitting sales of 136,000 cases in the US during its first seven months of business.
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