Celebrity-backed alcohol brands aren’t anything new. It’s easy to get in on the booze market—particularly the booming segment of RTD canned beverages—and with so much money on offer, to the celebrity it probably seems like there’s only upside. And these sorts of endorsements can mean a lot to consumers. After all, these drinks must be extra delicious if they’re affiliated with someone famous, right? For all these reasons, it’s no surprise that pop culture icon Jennifer Lopez has jumped on the bandwagon and released her own line of adult beverages. But the announcement is getting a lot of attention for all the wrong reasons.
What is Delola, J.Lo’s new beverage line?
Lopez (who is also using the last name Affleck these days) recently introduced announced on Instagram the release of her new beverage brand, Delola. The product is a bottled spritz cocktail with an alcohol content of 10.5%-11.5% alcohol by volume depending on the variety; that’s just about the amount of booze you get in a glass of wine. Flavors include Paloma Rosa (tequila, grapefruit, elderflower), Bella Berry (vodka, hibiscus, berries), and L’Orange (amaro, orange, passionfruit).
The Delola website depicts Lopez lounging around in an Amalfi Coast–esque atmosphere—basically your standard celebrity lifestyle bullshit, nothing new here. The real reason J.Lo’s announcement has raised eyebrows is the fact that she has maintained for years that she doesn’t drink alcohol. Moreover, fans have pointed out that her husband, Ben Affleck, has struggled publicly with alcoholism for years and is currently in recovery.
Why are people mad about Delola?
CBS reports that fans are pretty upset about what they see as Lopez’s hypocrisy. If you take a look through the comments attached to the original Instagram announcement, people are sniping pretty hard at Lopez.
“Super disappointed and confused about you promoting something that you have openly shared you do not partake in because of the health effects of alcohol,” wrote one commenter. “Also, you are married to a man that struggles with alcohol addiction and yet…”
“SMH this is like a Vegan trying to sell me a Steak,” wrote another.
Almost all of the negative feedback shares these sentiments—and I’ll be damned if I don’t feel that same way. It’s already hard to take J.Lo at her word here, because if she’s a non-drinker who has publicly talked up all the positive effects of abstaining from alcohol, I have no reason to trust her assertion that Delola is the best cocktail ever. But it’s downright uncomfortable to see ads for Delola when Affleck has only discussed his struggles with alcohol carefully and somewhat reluctantly in the media.
Of course, it’s possible Affleck lent this business venture his full-throated support; we have no way of knowing what his feelings are on Delola. But the fact remains that there are a million other directions in which Lopez could have gone to make money, and most of those options don’t have optics this gross.
Many Instagram commenters suggested that she could have started a non-alcoholic cocktail brand instead of a spirited one, which would have been the angle that actually made sense.
“If this was a non alcoholic beverage brand the sober girlies would have been so excited and all over it and it would have stood out,” noted one user. “Now it’s just another celebrity alcohol brand.”
Forget beverages altogether—J.Lo could have pushed granola bars, socks, a vacuum cleaner, anything. An alcoholic beverage line is easily the most shortsighted choice, and given that she is no doubt surrounded by a team who can ostensibly vet these ideas, well, they all screwed up on this one.
I’d be surprised if we heard a peep out of her about it, though. Considering practically everything on her Instagram feed is an ad for something (it’s astonishing how much shit celebrities promote), even if we did hear more about Delola, I’m guessing it wouldn’t be too contrite. After all, there’s always more to shill.