Kendall Jenner Is Giving Back To The Mexican Community That Make Her Tequila – And It's Worth The Praise
Looks like she learned from her mistakes.
818 Tequila / YouTube / NBC Kendall Jenner seems to be taking steps towards rectifying all of the backlash she received after launching the campaign for her tequila brand, 818.
In an interview with Jimmy Fallon, Jenner spoke about the new initiative her brand is working on to help support the community of Jalisco, who were heavily involved in creating her tequila.
It was first back in February when Jenner announced that had been working on an alcohol company for almost four years which was 818 Tequila.
How Kendall Jenner's 818 Tequila is giving back to Mexican communities.
It seems as if all of the criticism has led to Jenner creating an initiative to donate back to the community.
“We actually, 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,” Jenner said while appearing on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon."
The bricks will apparently be used to build homes for the people in Jalisco, and Jenner also revealed that they are working on building a hospital as well.
In the interview, Jenner also talked about one of the reasons she launched 818 Tequila in the first place was because many of the other brands being sold were not as “friendly to the planet as they could possibly be.”
She explained that her company will also be donating 1% of revenue to planet-saving initiatives in a partnership with an international organization, One Per Cent.
Kendall Jenner initial received backlash for launching 818 Tequila.
To celebrate the launch of her tequila, Jenner starred in a commercial ad that was set on a farm in Jalisco, Mexico.
The video consisted of the model dressed in jeans, an oversized shirt with a cowboy hat tied around her neck, as she walked beside a horse. The campaign drew immediate criticism from Jenner’s outfit which was similar to traditional Mexican clothing and braided hairstyles while working beside agave farmers.
The ad was blasted for exploiting Mexican culture and profiting off of the agricultural industry that is fundamental to Mexican culture.
Others felt as if the commercial was disrespectful to the native Mexican workers on agave farms, and that Jenner was spreading misinformation regarding sacred Mexican culture.
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In response to the backlash, Jenner removed the ad from her Instagram account shortly after disabling comments.
Despite the heavy backlash, the original intent of the commercial was trying to give credit to the agave farmers who were working hard on the tequila brand in Jalisco.
Male-owned celebrity tequila brands didn't receive the same reaction as Kendall Jenner.
Many people argued that Jenner received an excessive amount of backlash for starting her tequila company compared to others, like George Clooney and his brand Casamigos. Jenner even said herself that one of the other reasons she started her company was because the tequila industry is a “male-dominated space.”
There was hardly any outrage over cultural appropriation when it came to George Clooney and Rande Gerber’s alcohol brand, Casamigos, after it’s launch in 2013.
There are also other celebrities like Diddy, Justin Timberlake, and Nick Jonas, who created Mexican-made alcohol and were met with nothing but praise.
It’s clear that Jenner might have been criticized in a harsher tone than others, and it seems as if it’s heavily influenced by her gender.
Her steps towards giving back to the community that helped launch her incredibly successful tequila brand should be admired, especially when looking at how other tequila companies haven’t done much of the same.
It’s an initiative that can have lasting benefits on the people in Jalisco, and it seems as if Kendall Jenner has her heart in the right place.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.