Tequila Don Gato

Do you like to have cool times?

Don Gato is a tequila created by the eponymous former lucha libre cult hero. As a long time fan of this legend, actor and director Danny McBride camped out down in Jalisco to capture Don Gato’s story in a series of films and journal entries and shared it with the world.

Or at least that’s how the brand comes to life. In reality the only thing authentic is the tequila. Danny and his team at Roughhouse Pictures who’ve produced HBO shows like The Righteous Gemstones and Eastbound and Down created the character and story and Danny made sure the tequila was good. Sandstrom design created the identity. But there wasn’t anyone who knew how all the random pieces fit together in a way that could be symbiotic and follow a plan.

I was brought on to help bring all the different story elements together so it could function as a super weird brand and still work in the real world without breaking character. This of course was a crucial part of the launch strategy and PR outreach. The product, the Tequila Saga, the nuances of the relationship between Don Gato and Danny had to be explored and developed. That meant everything from films to the website, activation ideas, tasting notes and sell sheets all had to keep in character as they were being created to do their job and keep it ridiculous. This entire team was next level talented and the collaboration was natural and easy.

I was just a creative director among superstars and brought in one of my go-to partners, Chris Campbell. As per usual I also contributed a lot of writing to the brand with both Sandstrom and the Don Gato team.

This of course is a velvet painting of Don Gato when he was a professional wrestler. Danny Mcbride grew up with a copy of this on his bedroom wall. Or maybe we had it commissioned as merch on the website?

Teaser video was created to make you wonder if this is a new series or tequila or who knows.

Lots of great merch. Look for more soon.