Matthew McConaughey (Texas, 56 years old) has stripped naked from the waist up several times on screen. In the movie magic microphone in 2012, in fact, it is difficult to find a scene in which the actor wears a t-shirt. However, a couple of years ago he started keeping his shirt on and, instead, taking off his trousers, a habit he shares with his wife Camila Alves (Minas Gerais, Brazil, 42 years old). “Please don’t keep them on,” the couple said in an Instagram post in October 2023, in a video of them touring an agave field riding bareback motorcycles, their pelvic areas pixelated. Some users commented that it gave servilityothers responded with fire emoticons. The fact is that that post was actually an advertisement, and it managed to get people talking. Since then, posing naked from the waist down has become a recurring gesture for the couple to promote their tequila brand, which is ironically called Pants.
“No. The world doesn’t need another celebrity tequila. But, by God, the tequila industry needs a touch of fun. And that’s exactly what Pants is: wholesome, delicious fun,” McConaughey and Alves describe on the drink’s website, which they launched just over two years ago. Pants is a “superpremium” organic tequila made from 100% agave tequilana. Why is it called Pants? The Texan and the Brazilian try to explain it like this, after clarifying what this Spanish word means in English: “Putting on pants is also a colloquial expression that means to have guts. Pants tequila represents the value of taking the next step, having fun and not taking things too seriously. Everyone, without distinction, wears pants at some point in their life and, like pants, our tequila is for everyone.”
The actor and model, married since 2012 and parents of three children, have made their photos and videos without pants one of the distinctive features of the brand which become viral content every time they are shared. They did it by posing very elegantly from the waist up and with nothing underneath – apart from socks and shoes – during a game of croquet. Even while preparing a barbecue or sunbathing by the pool. “Burnt sandwiches are no fun,” says the message in the latter image, which captures the moment before Alves puts sunscreen on her husband’s pixelated butt.
“While some spirits brands focus on tradition and heritage, Pants strives to be the life of the party. Its casual identity is part of its appeal in a market saturated with solemn stories and dusty barrels,” he said. Forbes in July 2025, when this tequila began its international expansion to Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom.
For now the rogue tone works. In just over a year, Pants has ranked among the three best-selling 750ml tequilas at Total Wines, the largest independent chain of wine and spirits stores in the United States, behind only Don Julio and Casamigos, founded by George Clooney along with his friends Rande Gerber and Mike Meldman. In 2024 alone, it sold more than 100,000 cases and expanded its distribution to more than 10,000 retail locations in 44 US states. It is a success even among the most connoisseurs: its Añejo tequila won double gold at the 2024 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, beating traditional brands that sell at much higher prices — bottles of Pants cost between $45 and $55 —. “We take the pants very seriously, but at the same time we have a lot of fun together. It’s something very special for us,” Alves said Forbes four months ago.
At first, the bottle or glass of tequila appeared more or less subtly in all his photos without pants. Now it has become such a recognizable gesture that they no longer even need to show the product they sell. They have photos together naked from the waist down while walking past the lawnmower, dancing country or recreating the poster of the actor’s hit romantic comedy How to lose a guy in 10 days – although in this case Alves’ long dress covers her from top to bottom.
There is also a doing of in which the secret is revealed, namely that what is actually pixelated are the flesh-colored tights they wear attached to their bodies. “We’re green and we’ve won awards, but we’re also lighthearted and have an irreverent energy that attracts people,” McConaughey said in the same interview with Forbes.
According to the business publication, the Oscar winner for Dallas Buyers Club (2013) brings “big ideas and talent to the brand image”, while the model is “deeply involved in day-to-day operations”, collaborating on tasks such as logistics management or supply chain. “Fortunately, this isn’t the first time I’ve started a business,” he clarified Forbes the Brazilian, who also launched her own line of bags in 2008. “But it’s Matthew’s first, and we’ve faced this challenge together with determination. I love working in accounting, logistics, numbers and the administrative side of the business,” she said.
This Wednesday, the two shared a photo howling at the full moon on November 5, dressed in warm sweaters and boots, but no pants, of course. It’s their way of presenting their new cocktail, called howling of the moona tequila version of the classic Espresso Martini whose ingredients can be purchased in their shop online. “We met over a Margarita, so launching this brand has really come full circle,” Alves said People in September 2024.
That first meeting, immediately after McConaughey’s courtship with Penélope Cruz, is also recounted by the actor on the site Pants: “It was the end of 2006 and I was presiding over the head table at the Hyde Club, on Sunset Boulevard, when I saw her. My mother’s voice rang in my head: ‘This isn’t just any woman waving across the bar, son. Get off your ass and introduce yourself.’ “I gave Camila the best Margarita she had ever made and spoke Spanish like never before. The only problem was that she spoke Portuguese, because she’s Brazilian… but the rhythm of the Latin languages seemed to fit,” he says. He says that, despite her grammatical errors, he managed to date her after two failed attempts. “Almost two decades later, she’s still the only woman I’ve ever wanted to make a Margarita for. And so, my friends, it all began, with a twist of tequila fate,” he recalls.
