It seems like everyone wants to get into the spirits business these days, whether you’re looking at George Clooney’s über-successful Casamigos Tequila or Matthew McConaughey’s role with Wild Turkey or one of the many other celebrity-owned/created/endorsed brands out there. Now, even the tech world wants a piece. Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, recently filed a patent application to trademark a Tesla-branded tequila.
Dubbed Teslaquila, the patent application to trademark the spirit was submitted on October 8, 2018. The trademark is for both “distilled agave liquor” and “distilled blue agave liquor,” so it seems that Musk is looking to create a legit tequila brand (or, because he filed for both agave and blue agave liquor, it also begs the question if Musk plans to do another type of agave spirit, such as mezcal).
Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.
This is not a forward-looking statement, because, obviously, what's the point?
Happy New Month! pic.twitter.com/YcouvFz6Y1
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 1, 2018
The trademark was in the “intent to use” category, which means that while the company isn’t currently using it, they have legitimate intentions of doing so in the future. While this could just be a preemptive measure against anyone else trying to register the name and make Teslaquila themselves, it isn’t as if Musk hasn’t made products that aren’t super spiffy cars before. Musk’s The Boring Company has previously offered hats and, oh yeah, the 20,000 freaking Not a Flamethrowers that sold out in just six days (watch one in use here).
The idea of Teslaquila didn’t come out of the blue (agave). Earlier this year, Musk hinted at his intentions with an April Fools tweet. After reporting the worst month for Tesla Inc. sales in more than seven years, Musk joked about the company going bankrupt and Tweeted a photo of himself with the caption, “Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by ‘Teslaquilla’ bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.”
While we’re always a bit skeptical about celebrities getting into the spirits game — especially in a market as saturated as tequila is currently — we think Musk has the smarts to make Teslaquila a quality product (or at the very least, find the right people who can). Only time will tell if the bottle top will pop up when you reach for it.
