Espolòn Tequila, the Campari Group brand made at Casa San Nicolás (NOM 1440) in the Los Altos highlands of Jalisco, launched a global campaign called Ride the Rooster on August 25, 2026, arguing that premium tequila should not require exclusivity.
The platform was created by San Francisco agency Venables Bell + Partners and rolls out first in the United States before expanding to Italy, Mexico, Canada and Australia, according to a company announcement carried by BevNET and PR Newswire and corroborated by Global Drinks Intel and Shanken News Daily.
What the campaign actually shows
The launch centers on four videos built around Ramón the Rooster and Guadalupe the Calavera, the illustrated characters from Espolòn's bottle labels. In the lead spot, titled The Members Lounge, an animated Guadalupe rides Ramón into a private club, where the oversized rooster lays a giant egg that hatches to reveal a DJ, turning the stiff gathering into a party. Muse by Clios reported that the spot was directed by Tom Kuntz via Karen Film and MJZ. Three more videos, Tasting Notes, The Velvet Rope and The Private Cabana, extend the same premise across bars, guest lists and beach clubs, according to BevNET's account of the launch materials. Digital banners accompanying the push carry lines including the new tagline, and Global Drinks Intel reported that the ads ask, "Who needs a celebrity when you have a huge rooster?"
Andrea Sengara, managing director of Campari Group's House of Agave division, framed the campaign's rationale in the company's release: "Too much of today's culture is built around exclusivity... 'Ride the Rooster' is [Espolòn's] belief that premium doesn't have to mean exclusive, it should be authentic, welcoming and full of character." Venables Bell + Partners partner and chief creative officer Will McGinness said the agency's goal was to challenge assumptions about what premium tequila is supposed to look like.
Why Campari is backing Espolòn now
The campaign lands as Espolòn has become Campari's largest brand in the United States by volume, reaching 1.67 million cases last year, up 6 percent, according to Impact Databank figures reported by Shanken News Daily. Through June of this year, the brand's volume in U.S. control states climbed 18.5 percent, and Espolòn now ranks seventh among all tequila brands in the U.S. market and second behind 1800 in the super-premium $25 to $40 price tier.
Within Campari's own reporting structure, the brand sits in the House of Agave division, which represented 10 percent of the group's total net sales and grew 6.9 percent in the first half of 2026, the fastest rate of any Campari division that period, according to the company's first-half results as reported by The Spirits Business and Shanken News Daily. Espolòn itself rose 8.2 percent globally over the same six months. Shanken News Daily reported that the brand's growth has been supported by demand for its Blanco and Reposado expressions, the June 2026 addition of an Extra Añejo aged in American oak and finished in French Chardonnay casks and priced at $69.99, and the rollout of smaller package formats, including a new 200-milliliter bottle alongside existing 375-milliliter and 50-milliliter sizes.
The characters, the founder and the brand's history
Ramón the Rooster and Guadalupe the Calavera have appeared on Espolòn's labels since the brand's founding; both were inspired by the work of 19th century Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada, according to the company's own materials distributed via PR Newswire. Espolòn was created by master distiller Cirilo Oropeza, who built the Casa San Nicolás distillery in the Los Altos highlands and ran it until his death in October 2020; the brand's current maestro tequilero is Jesús Susunaga Acosta, per reporting from The Spirits Business and Robb Report. Campari Group acquired the distillery along with the Espolòn and San Nicolás brands in a transaction the company's own investor filing valued at $17.5 million in cash plus $10 million in assumed debt, with an additional earn-out tied to future sales volume.
Ride the Rooster follows To the Bone, the brand's first global campaign, which launched in June 2024 around the 25th anniversary of Espolòn Tequila Blanco. The new platform is Espolòn's second global campaign in roughly two years and coincides with a broader industry conversation about premium positioning: Global Drinks Intel noted that the launch came weeks after Bacardi expanded ingredient-focused marketing for Patrón that references the Mexican tequila industry's regulatory allowance for additives up to 1 percent of a product's weight.
What this means
Espolòn's pitch arrives alongside continued premium moves, including a $69.99 Extra Añejo and Chardonnay-cask finishing, so the campaign's populist framing sits next to a portfolio that keeps climbing in price tier. Espolòn Blanco carries a TW Score of 60 of 95 in Tequila Watch's database, with no third-party organic certificate on file; that figure describes the four-pillar scoring method, not this marketing push, and says nothing about whether the campaign's message changes how the liquid is made or sold.