Mexico was absolutely not here for Elon Musk's "Teslaquila"

Tesla / Saul Martinez for Getty
Life

Creative baby namer and figurehead of Tesla Elon Musk is in the headlines again. This time, however, it’s not a story of unwarranted billionaire triumph. Someone actually told him no, and it is glorious. As we learned a few weeks ago, Musk announced the launch of a Tesla-branded tequila, which he wanted to name “Teslaquila,” — an idea that Mexico shut down but quick. As it happens, the second richest man on Earth can’t have everything he wants.

It went down like this. Musk’s novelty tequila brand was eventually named Tesla Tequila. The $250 bottle is already sold out, of course. (Glad to see Musk has a back-up plan in case this whole space-genius billionaire thing doesn’t work out.) His original intended name for the tequila, “Teslaquila” was rejected, however, and not because it would be impossible to pronounce after having a single sip of alcohol but because Mexico's Tequila Regulatory Council was not having it.

If Musk wanted to call his drink tequila, it had to use the actual unaltered word “tequila,” to avoid diluting the identity of the spirit, said Martín Muñoz, head of the certification body at Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council (CRT), according to The Verge. And while Musk could still do that if he wanted, it won’t be official — meaning in this war of words, Mexico has come out the winner.

Musk actually first mentioned his love for tequila — and its intended brand-name “Teslaquila” — in jest on Twitter two years ago. Specifically, the inception of this tequila brand appeared in an April fools joke claiming his electric car company was going bankrupt, which the Tesla board found very funny, I bet.

After stating in an earlier tweet that Tesla had gone “completely and totally bankrupt. So bankrupt, you can't believe it,” he went on to joke, in part, “Elon was found passed out against a Tesla Model 3, surrounded by "Teslaquilla" [sic] bottles, the tracks of dried tears still visible on his cheeks.”

Apparently, having more money than the GDP of Nicaragua affords you the opportunity to even turn your sadness or your jokes into products. So I guess, in the end, Musk wins again, potentially sapping even more money from fanboys, who are already bidding on empty bottles at more than three times the price of a full one.