The Tequila Metaverse Is Coming Whether You Like It or Not (We Don’t)

Take a Trip to the Tequila Metaverse. Photo: Stir World

Despite an apparent lack of public demand, it seems like the Metaverse is everywhere nowadays.

Mark Zuckerberg’s multibillion-dollar gamble on the future of virtual reality has been a confusing one, defined by yet-unfulfilled promises built on the back of technology the average consumer simply doesn’t have access to. For many, it’s difficult to imagine what this much discussed “meta future” actually entails. But that hasn’t stopped investors from piling in.

In addition to expected investors like Facebook, Microsoft and Google, we’ve seen everyone from Coca-Cola to Nike try their hand at bespoke NFTs tailored to virtual experiences. Gucci has even erected “Gucci Town” in the children’s videogame Roblox, where users are invited to browse a virtual storefront and buy in-game Gucci products with real-world money.

Roblox’s largest demographic consists of users between the ages of nine and twelve.

The Roblox Gucci Store. Photo: Gucci

All of this is to say, nothing is sacred. Not even tequila.

It’s difficult to imagine how a thoroughly physical commodity like tequila could be recreated in virtual reality. After all, who would want to buy tequila that they can’t drink?

The answer, which seems to be the growing norm for metaverse marketing ploys of this sort, is to create a virtual playground within which users can earn branded NFTs.

Case in point: Patron Tequila launched a limited run “Patron Summer Metaverse Quest” this past August. The “Quest” was hosted on Decentraland, a popular 3D browser-based virtual platform in which transactions are backed by the Ethereum blockchain.

Within Patron’s metaverse experience, users were invited to one of three “pop-ups” centered around different tequila cocktails. Users could travel to destinations themed around a Silver & Soda, a Perfect Paloma, or an Añejo Highball.

Once there, users could participate in games to earn virtual cocktails and virtual Patron merchandise. Those who completed all three quests were entered for a chance to win a trip to Punta Mita, Mexico.

Patron’s Tequila Metaverse Goodies. Photo: Patron

Creating video games to market tequila is dubious to say the very least, particularly given that 51% of the metaverse userbase is allegedly 13 or younger. Users had to be 21 or over to participate in Patron’s experience, but in practice, all that meant is checking off a box.

If you’re wondering, the games within Patron’s virtual world were relatively simple. At the Perfect Paloma pop-up, for instance, users had to search the level to find Patron Reposado, Sparkling Water, Agave Syrup, and Grapefruit to mix their cocktail.

This is a ridiculous but rudimentary attempt at creating a tequila video game. Compared to Patron, Jose Cuervo’s Metadistillery takes the gamification of tequila to absurd levels. 

On July 24th of this year, Jose Cuervo opened the doors to the world’s first metadistillery in Decentraland.

As the press release explained, the metadistillery “reimagines the IRL distillery experience in a way only the metaverse can create, all while paying homage to the experience one may have at Jose Cuervo’s La Rojeña distillery in Tequila, Mexico – Latin America’s oldest operational distillery.”

Predictably, users were invited to play games to earn NFT drops. This time, however, Jose Cuervo gamified the entire production process behind a bottle of Cuervo Tradicional Cristalino.

Entrance to Cuervo’s Metadistillery. Photo: LS: N Global

In successive games, users nurture and harvest agave plants, pop fermentation bubbles during “piña volleyball,” navigate a maze of aged American white oak barrels then filter their tequila for clarity at the “Crystal Filter Portal.”

Throughout, users have a chance to win one of ten limited edition NFTs airdropped to those wearing Cuervo’s virtual merch.

There are no hard statistics on who plays these games nor how many users they attract. One can only assume that those most interested in mixing a virtual cocktail are probably those who aren’t old enough to buy one in real life. But that’s just speculation.

As corporate promises of the meta future inch closer and closer to actualization by the day, virtual marketing experiences like these will only grow.

Tequila San Matias has just announced that they’ve bought a virtual plot of land to plant an agave field in The Sandbox, a 2D metaverse platform backed by the Ethereum blockchain.

The World’s First Meta Agave Field. Photo: Tequila San Matias

It is unclear what will be made of this virtual blue agave field. Their website states, “With the purchase of land on the platform and the development of immersive experiences, the tequila company seeks to innovate and share the tradition of tequila processes on Web3.”

The neon-soaked future of tequila marketing is a bleak one. In time, it’s possible that a trip to the bar will be replaced by a trip to the meta bar. There, we might be served a tasteless, virtual cocktail provided by a bartender wearing a limited-edition corporate-branded NFT.

For now, I think I’ll stick with actual tequila.

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