Aubrey Plaza Takes a Jab at Celebrity Tequila Craze in Ad for Cointreau

(Photo: Cointreau)

“Parks and Recreation” star Aubrey Plaza has reteamed with Cointreau for a pointed spoof on the liquor industry. This time around, the actress is taking a jab at one of the most overfatigued trends sweeping the market — celebrity-owned tequila.

On Thursday, orange liqueur brand Cointreau unveiled the “Any Tequila” campaign, centered around a 30-second clip of Plaza exploring the agave fields of Mexico. Cocktail in hand, the “White Lotus” alum explains that the only ingredients in a great margarita are Cointreau, lime juice and tequila. Specifically, any tequila. To illustrate her point, Plaza pulls out a “100% celebrity-endorsed, 0% real brand” literally labeled Any Tequila in bold red-and-white lettering. She pokes fun at A-listers’ seeming ignorance of the category (“what is this… aloe?”) before saddling up to the bar.

The gist of the sales pitch is pretty simple. Ever since kicking off its MargaRight campaign last year, Cointreau has worked overtime to establish itself as the liqueur of choice inside any margarita order. Rather than encourage drinkers to order the cocktail with X, Y or Z ultra-popular celebrity tequila, the brand is insisting that Cointreau is the sole ingredient necessary to let the recipe shine.

Conveniently, parent company Rémy Cointreau is one of the only international spirits conglomerates without a celebrity-backed tequila in its portfolio.

“At Cointreau, we do believe that making the perfect Margarita should be simple,” Nicolas Beckers, President and CEO at Rémy Cointreau Americas, remarked in a news release. “With Aubrey Plaza and Any Tequila, we’re bringing that message to life in a way that’s both memorable and unmistakably MargaRight—reminding everyone that Cointreau is, and always has been, the essential ingredient in the Margarita.”

Whether or not you’re a fan of brands like Cincoro and Teremana, there’s no denying that Hollywood has permanently reshaped the current era of tequila brands. Over the past couple of years alone, we’ve witnessed new agave launches from the likes of Blake Lively, Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Yachty, Jennifer Lopez and Canelo Álvarez, just to name a few.

Making fun of the craze through tongue-in-cheek messaging has become a trend in and of itself. When Matthew McConaughey announced his foray into the category last year with Pantalones Organic Tequila, he did so by riding bottomless on a motorcycle. The image — plastered onto billboards across the country — was an obvious parody of George Clooney and Rande Gerber’s Casamigos campaign that kicked off the celebrity-backed tequila wave as we know it today.

Other brands have taken an even blunter approach. Earlier this year, we had the pleasure of trying Not A Celebrity Tequila, a 100% real bottle that sounds like it was ripped straight from Cointreau’s latest commercial. Its website boasts inventive tidbits like “built on ingredients, not IMDB.” Far from a gimmick, the additive-free tequila packed pleasantly bitter flavors of roasted coffee, cinnamon and fennel alongside a licorice- and cardamom-peppered finish. Find our full review here.