Elon Musk's 'Teslaquila' Drink Faces Clash with Mexican Tequila Industry
Style Magazine Newswire | 11/16/2018, 1:35 p.m.
Farmers load blue agave hearts
Tesla Inc co-founder Elon Musk and Mexico’s tequila producers could be headed for a collision after the agave-based drink’s industry group opposed the flamboyant billionaire’s efforts to trademark an alcoholic drink dubbed “Teslaquila.” One of the world’s richest people and chief executive of Tesla (TSLA.O), Musk is known for ambitious and cutting-edge projects ranging from auto electrification and rocket-building to high-speed transit tunnels. Now it seems that Musk could be setting his sights on disrupting the multibillion-dollar tequila industry. On Oct. 12, he tweeted “Teslaquila coming soon.” Not so fast, said Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT). It argued that the “name ‘Teslaquila’ evokes the word Tequila ... (and) Tequila is a protected word.” The CRT keeps tabs on producers to assure they adhere to strict denomination of origin rules, which dictate the spirit must be made in the Mexican states of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit or Tamaulipas, among other requirements.
