After copping significant flack for her tone-deaf 2017 Pepsi ad, Kendall Jenner has been criticised for misusing Mexican culture in her new tequila campaign.
Jenner, who is white, has been accused of cultural appropriation both in the creation of the tequila itself and its latest photoshoot.
Her brand tequila818 was criticised for appropriating a Mexican product.
When it was announced in February, one Twitter user wrote: “Something about Kendall Jenner making tequila rubs me the wrong way..like the idea of white celebrities taking from local Mexican artisans and profiting off our traditions and agricultural business yet only visit Cabos and Puerto Vallarta for vacation spots…”
“And not to mentioned profit off the brown hands that actually plant, grow, harvest ferment and distill the agave plants in Jalisco.”
The original tweet received more than 28,000 likes.
Another tweeted, “Kendall Jenner coming out with her “own” tequila is ultimate modern day coloniser vibes.”
In the new campaign, Jenner appears with very tanned skin and loose, dark braids (a hairstyle traditionally associated with Mexican women).
The campaign also features some of the agave farmers who create the tequila.
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She has been accused of capitalising on both the aesthetics and labour of Mexicans for her personal profit.
Not once did Kendall Jenner care about latino kids being put in cages so why is she using the Mexican culture to make her unseasoned tequila profit?? She going to hell. pic.twitter.com/ppr09UQ6g7
— Muliani (@MulianiEnt) May 19, 2021
Kendall Jenner deactivating the comments to not let people talk about the cultural appropriation pic.twitter.com/RBQdUvsZF6
— Fer 🦋 (@ferrobinson_) May 17, 2021
YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME…..leave it to Kendall to be as tone deaf as possible, this is so offensive. Modeling that chic migrant worker look for her tequila brand, watch her cry and say she didn't know later on for the 100th time 🙄😠 pic.twitter.com/7n4VypvSVv
— ARS (@ESNYstylessa) May 18, 2021
One Twitter user also posted a detailed thread explaining exactly why tequila has such significance to Mexican culture, and the problems with Jenner creating her own.
WHY YOU SHOULDN’T BUY KENDALL JENNERS 818 TEQUILA? thread for my non mexican mutuals explaining 🇲🇽 pic.twitter.com/DX6xj0EfDm
— ★ ☆ (@HOLAMOTOMAMIZ) May 19, 2021
The user explained that tequila is important because “no other country can produce Tequila; it’s an important beverage that we use when we are happy, sad, celebrating, mourning etc. and it’s important for the country’s economy.”
They also explained the significance of tequila to Mexico’s economy, and criticised the fact that Jenner’s tequila will be available in the US only, not Mexico: “the country that is giving you the resources to make the drink in the first place.”
Back in 2017, Jenner appeared in a much-maligned advert for Pepsi, which was widely criticised for appropriating the Black Lives Matter protests in the US.
Her siblings Kim, Khloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, and Kylie Jenner, have been frequently accused of stealing – and then making profits from – the aesthetics of people of colour, particularly Black women.
Image: Instagram/@kendalljenner
