Patrón thinks its biggest selling point is what's not in its tequila

Patrón is betting that what’s missing from its bottles can set it apart, as US spirits sales fall and the premium tequila category becomes increasingly crowded.

Patrón is rolling out the latest iteration of a provocative campaign that plays on the words it’s not allowed to use in its marketing, the company exclusively told CMO Insider.

Last year, Mexico’s Tequila Regulatory Council, the CRT, briefly removed Patrón’s official NOM compliance mark and halted its border exports after the brand refused to remove its “100% additive free” messaging from its marketing.

The CRT bars tequila producers from marketing their products as “additive-free” because Mexican authorities consider the claim misleading for consumers.

Patrón responded with its “Censored Truth” campaign, which bleeped and blacked out the forbidden claim.

Patrón is pushing the point further with a new series of out-of-home ads.

Created by the ad agency BBH USA, a series of billboards and murals nod at its regulatory clash.

Some billboards are deliberately misspelled — “No atrificial flvaor.

No atrificial swetness.” — while others omit Patrón’s name entirely, relying on the distinctive silhouette of its bottles alongside references to what isn’t inside it and an invitation to visit guess-which-tequila.com.

Roberto Ramirez Laverde, Patrón global SVP, told me that the brand is betting that ingredient transparency can become its marketing superpower. “Our mystery ingredient is that we don’t have a mystery ingredient,” he said.

Ramirez Laverde said tequila drinkers want to know more about a product’s ingredients and how it was produced.

Patrón cited a March 2026 YouGov survey of 1,002 US adults, in which 61% of consumers polled said manufacturers offer greater transparency about their ingredients and sourcing.

Ramirez Laverde said communicating consistently is part of the brand’s winning formula, and why it opted to build on its past transparency campaign, rather than rolling out new messaging.

Patrón’s internal brand metrics indicated the approach was working, driving up scores such as consumers’ willingness to pay more for its products and indicating they were “happy to be seen drinking” Patrón. “As marketers, I think we usually make a key mistake, which is we get tired of things before the consumer does, and that’s because we are used to seeing our products and our campaigns probably 100 times before they are in front of the consumers’ eyes,” Ramirez Laverde.

Patrón was the third-biggest-selling tequila brand by dollar volume in retail stores in 2025, behind market leaders Don Julio and Cuervo, per Nielsen IQ.

Like other brands in the category, Patrón has been forced to adapt to changing drinking habits, as Americans cut back on alcohol and contend with inflation.

US spirits sales fell 2.2% by value in 2025, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the US, while tequila and mezcal sales dropped 4.1%.

The super-premium segment was particularly squeezed, with volumes falling 6.1%.

Steph Kiens, growth developer and director at Elmwood Brand Consultancy, which counts Heineken as a client, said Patrón needs to focus on more than an eye-catching transparency campaign to drive consumers to choose its tequila over cheaper alternatives. “The ‘in the know’ that the brand should focus on is its understanding of culture and its place in consumers’ minds, not simply its logo-esque recognizability,” Kiens said.

Ramirez Laverde said Patrón acknowledged it needed to evolve its luxury offering.

One example was creating miniature versions of its El Alto range, which usually retails for around $165 per 750 ml bottle, for consumers to sample at music festivals.

More broadly, Patrón is trying to position itself as a musical accompaniment.

This year, it sponsored the Grammy Awards and created a “Hacienda Patrón” pop-up at the Lollapalooza festival, featuring artist performances, DJ sets, and specialty cocktails.

Kiens said Patrón would also do well to tap into Gen Z’s revival of 2010s trends. “Patrón has a unique opportunity to lean into nostalgia for the era that boosted its fame in the first place,” Kiens added.