Mark Wahlberg has become the latest celebrity to get himself into the booze game after he became the main investor in a tequila company.
That means that the artist formerly known as Marky Mark will be going head-to-head with the likes of The Rock, MMA star Conor McGregor, Ryan Reynolds, and George Clooney.
Well, not exactly.
Although those stars have all been very vocal about their involvement with their respective alcoholic projects – Teremana Tequila, Proper Twelve Whiskey, Aviation Gin, and Casamigos Tequila – Wahlberg claims that he is taking more of a back seat and simply intends to get his chequebook out.
The company, which is a family-owned Mexican tequila company called Flecha Azul, was co-founded by Mexican PGA Tour golfer Abraham Ancer and his business partner Aron Marquez.
Wahlberg told CNN: "It's funny because when it was first mentioned to me I said, 'absolutely not'.
"You have all these other people out there claiming to have gone to Mexico and created tequila and cultivated agave and all this stuff.
“They were like, 'this is not what that is, we have two amazing guys who are really young and like-minded'.
“I just said I would love to invest in them."
Of course, Wahlberg has taken a visit down to the distillery in Jalisco, Mexico. It has been the home of the tequila company since 1840, and remains so today, but with a load of celebrity cash behind it.
"I said I want to put my money where my mouth is and cut a big check [sic] and get involved with your brand and utilize [sic] all of my resources.
“Everything that we have we are going to tap into and utilize [sic] to make sure this brand is as successful as possible."
So, at the minute you can only get Flecha Azul in California, Texas, Nevada, and Georgia.
However, they’re soon to take the brand nationwide, and you would have to imagine that they’ll go global before too long.
There are five types of tequila at the minute – Blanco, Reposado, Añejo, Cristalino, and Extra Añejo.
Speaking about taking their illustrious business partner on-board, Ancer said that it was a ‘no brainer’.
"It just felt like it was meant to be. He tried Flecha Azul and loved it," he said.
"Our focus was to bring a tequila that's made the traditional way with no shortcuts. It is extremely important for me to honor [sic] my culture and the families that have dedicated their lives to tequila making."
The prospect of locking horns with the Brahma Bull – amongst others – hasn’t dampened Wahlberg’s enthusiasm for the project.
He said: "The space is growing thanks to guys like Dwayne who have created a lot of awareness and excitement.
"We're coming for everybody's spot ... We plan on being the best because we have the best product out there. It's the best value proposition for the customer.
"I've tasted their product, they haven't tasted mine! Those guys know me very well, they know my competitive spirit!'"
Competitive spirit. We see what you did there, Mark.
Topics: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Celebrity, Food And Drink
Tom Wood