While I was watching the Tekashi 69 documentary Supervillian on HBO last night, I had to distract myself with something to conceal my utter disappointment in humanity, so I ended up watching YouTube videos of Arnold talking about cigars. I found this clip, which completely turned my mood around, allowing me to fall asleep in peace.

There’s not enough time or space to explain hip hop artist Tekashi 69 to you if you don’t know who he is, but to summarize: he’s a modern celebrity—in the vain of the Paul brothers on YouTube—with no real talent, except for understanding how controversy can create cash. By being the biggest piece of shit possible, he has made an obscene amount of money.

What really struck me during the last episode was how Tekashi shrugged off bad reviews from guardian music review sites like Pitchfork, along with extreme disses from industry figureheads like Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. His answer: the people who care about those opinions aren’t the ones making him money.

Bingo.

There was a time with wine and whiskey where a positive review from a major critic would entice thousands of drinkers to run out and grab a bottle, but today that’s less and less the case (and we’re moving less and less cases, as a result!).

Hence, when you wonder how certain liquids (many of which are terrible) can achieve extreme popularity in the market, despite lackluster reviews and negative press, you begin to understand the modern world of booze marketing. Everything that you thought mattered no longer matters. In the span of a few years, the rules have changed.

Today the most lucrative marketing movements are not controlled by the media gatekeepers. Instead, they’re birthed on social media by young consumers who subscribe to a completely different set of parameters, no longer contingent upon professional expertise or experience.

Ocean Spray and Fleetwood Mac didn’t experience a recent revival because a critic said they were good. Rather, they had a gigantic surge in sales because a 37 year old guy on TikTok rode a skateboard through Idaho.

If you’re still sending your wines to the Wine Spectator, or depending on the Whisky Advocate for your big break, you’re barking up the wrong tree. Today, I see more sales happening as a result of Reddit boards than I do critical reviews.

-David Driscoll