According to my wife, who handles the household budget, this is not the day and age of disposable income. TikTok Shop purchases of toy cigarettes which blow bubbles and the stainless steel stick figure/barbecue skewer where one may affix a hot dog wiener to its pelvic area to make it anatomically impressive (don’t act you don’t know what I’m talking about) are vetoed without a second thought.
All of this to say, I didn’t bend the family budget by a dime to get my hands on my Carlos by Carlos Sangria Pitcher and Cups set. Carlos would be Carlos Santana, who, as the set’s colorful packaging suggests, is “a global music icon who transcends musical genres and touches the hearts of people across all generations and geographical boundaries.” The packaging also implies Carlos is a drinkware designer.
Carlos – better known as Santana – recently performed at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. No word on whether the sangria pitcher and cups set was available at the merch tents or what they retailed for, but as I’ve mentioned, I got mine for free. My sister-in-law and her hubby are frequent visitors to WinStar World Casino and they re-gifted this casino loyalty gift to us because we’re the “music people” in the family.
We’ve used the set (this music story becomes a product review a few paragraphs from now) and it got me wondering which other artists have stamped their approvals to have products carrying their logos and names. I found some on a quick trip to the local H-E-B, including:
19 Crimes Snoop Dogg Cali Red
In 2026, Snoop Dogg sells more junk than Fred Sanford. He’s on more TVs than a power button. Snoop went from hood to huckster quicker than you can say Bigg Snoop Dogg Presents… Welcome to tha Chuuch: Da Album, a 2005 Snoop record that could have benefited from his Don Draper turn back then (it sold just 15,000 copies the week of its release).
The point is, you may need to drink yourself into a stupor just to escape Snoop’s product-pushing ways and, guess what, he’s attached to a wine so you can do just that. 19 Crimes is a popular wine which I can say I have tried once now, for reporting in this article, and compared to some of the other products he’s sold in his “Snoopermarket,” (yes, it’s a real thing) this one is definitely a wine.
Apparently, Snoop doesn’t have an ownership stake in the wine, but does have a long-term endorsement deal, lending his ultra-recognizable face (did we mention he’s on television a lot?) to labels on bottles for offerings like “Cali Rosè,” “Cali Gold” and “Cali Red.” The wine rating site Cellar Tracker shows about a 55 percent likeability rating for Cali Red on average, with certain vintage years rating slightly higher than others. It doesn’t exactly have the blunting effect of that other intoxicant Snoop’s better known for, but one bottle of any Cali blend will definitely do the trick.
Carlos by Carlos Sangria Pitcher and Cups
I’ve only used the set once or twice and I’ve never placed it out for party guests to ogle, but I can say the pitcher and cups are durable and microwave and dishwasher safe. Sales of the five-piece set support the Milagro Foundation, which Santana started in 1998 to support underrepresented and vulnerable kids in the areas of the arts, education and health, paraphrasing from the product packaging. The program has donated more than $10 million to fund nearly 500 non-profits in 20 countries, non-profits which focus on Black, Asian, LatinX, Native American and LGBTQ communities. Kinda makes me feel bad for getting mine gratis.
Because the set is functional and also supports a great cause, it’s nitpicky to suggest it’s hitting any wrong notes, which would truly be an anomaly for Santana, one of the world’s finest musicians. In Rolling Stone’s last rankings of music’s greatest guitarists, the iconic rock artist ranked 11, ahead of fellow guitar gods Prince, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Robert Johnson. As the magazine stated, Santana’s fusion of blues, jazz and Latin music was groundbreaking and forever cemented him as one of rock’s pioneers.
My slight gripe with the pitcher and cups Santana designed (“inspired” might be the better word) is the pattern could have been much funkier. I appreciate its nod to his roots, the color palette associated with Santana’s Mexican heritage and its indigenous cultures. But, have you ever seen the cover of Santana’s classic 1970 album Abraxas? It’s perennially listed as one of the greatest album covers, a psychedelic mindfuck mixing religious and erotic imagery, just the right art for an album that careens from the sexy “Black Magic Woman” to the festive “Oye Como Va.” An angel of fire, a Nubian princess, flora and doves – that’s what I wanna see when I’m sipping 19 Crimes Cali Red or maybe a little psylocibin tea from Santana’s cup.
Dolly Parton’s Perfectly Moist Coconut Flavored Cake Mix
The dearly departed, late, great Dolly Parton bestowed so many gifts upon this undeserving world, the main being her example that people could actually be kind and caring to others, no matter where they came from or where they were headed. Her philanthropic pursuits in literacy and healthcare just make the world a better place, the same as the songs she blessed us with, including “Coat of Many Colors,” “Jolene” and, of course, “I Will Always Love You,” which gave us one of recorded music’s shining moments, the point when Whitney Houston launches into the song title at the 3:09 mark of her cover following a brief moment of musical silence. Still gives me that brain orgasm known as ASMR whenever I’m lucky enough to hear it.
Would a bite of Dolly’s coconut cake give me the tinglies? Sadly, it did not, but only because I’m more prone to ASMR from music than food. The cake itself was quite delicious, “perfectly moist” as advertised and widely considered the best of the bunch Parton endorsed for Duncan Hines. Other products in the line include cookie, biscuit, cornbread and brownie mixes, and frosting, too. I will always love Dolly and I will always love cake, so this pairing of artist and product seems to be the prefect mix.
