Celebrity alcohol brands are getting pretty creative in their advertising these days. Mark Wahlberg, action star and one of the leads in Sony’s new Uncharted prequel, just proved that point again, and he didn’t have to do much. All it required was for him to get into the tequila game and reportedly have a fun idea to face off against fellow liquor brand magnates Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and George Clooney. You know, as one would normally do in such a case.
If you’re a fan of both the actor and tequila brand Flecha Azul, then TMZ’s sources have some good news for you. Apparently, Mr. Wahlberg wanted to get into the liquor game so bad after touring that label’s distillery, he bought a huge stake in the operation. What’s more, he’s allegedly reached out to his former Pain & Gain and Three Kings co-stars, who respectively originated the brands Teramana and Casamigos, and proposed a competitive taste test.
That right, there is an event that has “pay-per-view spectacular” written all over it, especially if you can get an impartial judge in the ring. While I’d absolutely throw my hat in the ring and volunteer for the honors, it also couldn’t hurt to enlist gin enthusiast and fellow alcohol entrepreneur Ryan Reynolds as the ref. However, he may already disqualify himself thanks to being Dwayne Johnson's co-star on Netflix’s dominating streaming hit Red Notice; so that’s something to think about.
Neither of Mark Wahlberg’s potential competitors are shy about where they stand with their creations. Whenever there’s a celebration that requires adult liquid refreshment, Mr. Johnson is ready to bust out a bottle of Teremana and pose in victory. If there’s a massive opportunity for trash talk and friction in the name of an entertaining battle, it’s with these two combatants.
Meanwhile, George Clooney has the potential to be the dark horse who waits things out more methodically. While he sold his stake in Casamigos, allowing him to do things like give his friends a nice chunk of money as gifts, his signature is still very much on those bottles. Then again, all he’d really have to say is that his brand is the preferred libation of one Quentin Tarantino, and Mr. Clooney would probably gain a bit of a leg up.
Three competitors, one type of liquor and a showdown that could crown a drink king in its resolution; what more could you ask for with a scenario like this? Probably further comment from The Rock or George Clooney on whether they’d say yes, which looks like it’s something we’ll have to wait up for in the future. While this tequila-laced face-off is still just a twinkle in Mark Wahlberg’s eye, you can see what it looks like when he and Dwayne Johnson stand toe to toe, muscle to muscle.
If you head over to Hulu or Paramount+, you can catch their joint venture with Michael Bay, Pain & Gain, as it’s currently streaming on both platforms. Meanwhile you can see Mark Wahlberg mentoring Tom Holland in the world of treasure hunting thanks to Uncharted being slated for a February 18th release, only in theaters. As for George Clooney, his latest directorial effort, The Tender Bar, can be seen in limited theatrical release, or streamed on Amazon Prime Video.
