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Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila accused of ‘blatantly’ copying rival brand in lawsuit
American model Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila has come under fire from competitor brand 512 Tequila, which is suing 818 for trademark infringement, false destination of origin and unfair competition, claiming the Tequila had “blatantly” copied its branding.
818 Tequila has launched to quite astonishing early success, with reports abound that the brand was selling out stocks across the United States just hours after it launched.
However, Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila has not been without its fair share of controversies. And the latest sees the brand being accused of “blatantly” copying 512 Tequila’s branding. The Tequila, via its parent company K & Soda LLC, is suing Jenner’s 818 brand for trademark infringement, according to news reports.
The lawsuit states that 512 Tequila uses an “immediately recognizable 512 mark in black lettering inside a vertical yellow rectangle.” The brand’s trademark was established in 2015.
The lawsuit claims that Kendall Jenner’s 818 Tequila has used the same branding with only “immaterial tweaks.”
However, a spokesperson for 818 Tequila said the brand does not believe there is any merit to the claims made in the lawsuit.
“818 does not believe there is any merit to these claims,” they said in a statement given to The Independent. “We cannot otherwise comment on the matter.”
Earlier this month, the model-turned-drinks-entrepreneur was accused of “irresponsible advertising” after posting a photo on social media of herself sipping 818 Tequila straight from the bottle through a straw.
Back in February 2021, Jenner sparked backlash in the wake of an 818 Tequila advertising campaign, which showed the model 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.”
In September last year, Jenner announced that the 818 Tequila distillery would be donating bricks crafted from agave waste to build local homes.
“At our distillery, which I was just at the other day, we found a way to take the agave waste, the agave fibres and the water waste, and build this sustainable brick that we are actually donating back to the community of Jalisco.” she said during an appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show.
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