On the 20th of November, MOJT announced three collaborative cocktails with Moutai by releasing a teaser commercial featuring Taiwanese pop icon Jay Chou. In the video Chou introduces the production process, and how Guizhou produce was used while making the cocktails. The three 30% abv cocktails are Blueberry Sling, Blueberry Sour and Spicy Berry, inspired by classic recipes Singapore Sling, Whiskey Sour and Bloody Mary, but with a Guizhou and very blueberry twist. Guizhou-produced chilli and tomato were used, as well as Moutai baijiu.
Established in 2022, MOJT is a relatively new cocktail brand aimed at younger audiences. Not long after launching, the brand announced that Jay Chou would become its global ambassador. At the time, Chou had just released his latest album Greatest Works of Art, which includes the 2020 viral hit single “Mojito”. The song featured heavily in MOJT campaigns at the time.
The crossover is between MOJT and Guizhou Moutai (Group) Ecological Agriculture Industry Development Co, Ltd. The company, an agriculture corporation focusing on blueberries and blueberry wine with the brand Moutai UMEET, is a subsidiary of Kweichow Moutai. Despite the indirect involvement from the historical distillery, Ding Xiongjun, chairman of Moutai Group endorsed the crossover as a three-way collaboration between Moutai, UMEET and MOJT. Ding shared that the cocktails are “an effort for UMEET to switch from promoting wines to promoting a lifestyle”.
The topic “Jay Chou Moutai cocktails” （#周杰伦茅台鸡尾酒#) gained 84.56 million views on Weibo, China’s Twitter equivalent, landing at number 22 on the Hot Search list on the platform. It has generated less attention compared to Moutai’s more recent co-branding campaigns, such as its blockbusting liquor coffee featuring Luckin Coffee or the slightly-lacklustre-but-still-very-much-talked-about chocolate liqueurs with Dove chocolate. It is perhaps due to the more minor and indirect involvement from both Chou and Moutai, or a growing consumer fatigue towards such collaborations.
Indeed, the Kweichow Moutai distillery had recently paused all new collaborations, precisely to avoid consumer fatigue and preserve its luxury brand status. That may be one of the reasons why this co-branding with MOJT was done through its subsidiary rather than the main baijiu brand.
According to a report on the drinking habits of young Chinese consumers, 73.9% of younger Chinese would not spend more than 300 RMB (42.26 USD) on a single bottle. Another reason for the lack of buzz around the partnership is, it would seem, that for cocktails aimed at younger consumers, the 539 RMB (75.93 USD) price tag is simply too hefty.
