By Nick Maker, Head of Music Supervision and Artist Partnerships at The Elements Music
Por Amor – How Musicians and Creators Are Redefining Mexico’s Image In Advertising
Stuck in a Trope
It’s 2023. Tequila is the fastest-growing category in spirits, fueled by a global boom and a revolving door of celebrity-backed brands. But while the industry is evolving at breakneck speed, tequila advertising? Not so much. You’ve seen the imagery a thousand times before — endless agave fields, weathered hands, linen-clad jimadores. It’s this ‘postcard’ version of Mexico that’s so commonly shown in ads, and it’s exactly what Don Julio was looking to do away with.
Mex-Generation
The brand’s ‘Por Amor’ campaign was billed as ‘a love letter to Mexico and its people’, written by the country’s own artists, musicians, and creators. Determined to shine a light on a modern Mexico – one that’s far more diverse, vibrant and metropolitan – it acted as both an ad and a platform to globally showcase the works of a group of pioneering Mexican creatives. These included Director JC Molina, Cinematographer Flavia Martinez, Stylist Nayeli De Alba and Photographer Thalia Gochez.
For music, this same platform has led us to collaborations with a number of esteemed Mexican artists, with the goal of continuously reimagining Rafael Solano’s 1968 Bolero classic ‘Por Amor’ – a song that embodies the spirit of the campaign.
For our Anthem film, we worked with Lauro Robles – better known as Lao of Mexico City-based record label NAAFI – on a custom remix of the track. “NAAFI have grown from a misfit warehouse-party crew into perhaps the most visible group in Mexico’s underground-club-music scene” (LA Times).
Expanding the vision
The campaign has since expanded into film, fashion, and live experiences, and its music approach has evolved right along with it. Nodding to Mexico City’s status as a melting pot of Latin sounds, Don Julio doubled down with collaborations across cumbia, reggaeton, baile funk, and Dominican dembow. A few standouts: Camilo Lara (Mexican Institute of Sound) brought a vintage full-band vibe to the Don Julio 70 campaign, recorded live in his Roma Norte studio; nu-cumbia pioneer El Dusty soundtracked the launch of a special Don Julio Alma Miel edition; and rising star El Baby R co-produced a track for Don Julio’s Super Bowl collab with Popeyes, blending the vocal sample-heavy style of Dominican club music with some Big Easy-inspired brass, resulting in what may well be the first ever Dembow Dominicana x NOLA Big Band crossover.
Tequila Rising
By embedding itself in culture, Don Julio cut through the noise of an oversaturated category and drove real impact with 1.7B+ total impressions, earned reach at 0.10% (25% above benchmark) and video view rates 70% higher than industry standard.
When brands engage with culture authentically, people don’t just watch—they participate. They listen. They share. They make it their own. Don Julio isn’t just releasing tequila ads anymore. It’s providing a platform for creatives that are redefining how the world sees Mexico.
