The story arrived in The Moodie Davitt Report’s in-box, unheralded and pretty much buried amid a standard compilation of Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail stories provided each month by the division’s external communications agency Talk.Global, writes Martin Moodie.
It carried the same weighting as a Martell Chinese New Year promotion story (less perhaps as it was the second story down) and one (already run by us multiple times) concerning a limited-edition bottling of The Glenlivet to celebrate Dubai Duty Free’s 35th anniversary.
Unsurprisingly then, the impact of the release was minimal (our rivals have not carried the story and nor has it generated much coverage elsewhere), yet we think it deserves to be up in lights every bit as bright as the bottle itself.
Why? Let me recap the story, which I first picked up on after I noticed it written by one of our team and ready for editing in our content management system.
Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail had launched a limited-edition bottle, Absolut Drop. Nothing so unusual about that. After all, the brand has been the trailblazer of limited-edition presentations for many years, several of them (remember the Andy Warhol bottle?) having achieved near-legendary status in the industry.
Was this just another interesting but ultimately short-term themed presentation? No.
Let me tell you why. The bottle design was inspired by Absolut representatives visiting racist and anti-LGBTQ protests around the globe and collecting hate and intolerance-filled signs and placards. The ink from these messages was then extracted and repurposed to “spread a better message of positivity” by being embodied in the look of the special Absolut Drop bottles.
But Absolut didn’t stop there. The drinks company partnered with social media influencers around the world to initiate a global conversation on what ‘love’ means. The campaign reached an estimated 400,000 people, engaging with over 11,000 consumers who shared their different interpretations and experiences of love.
Listen to this from Absolut Brand Director, Communications & Channel Marketing Gaia Gilardini. “This campaign is incredibly important to us. We’re dedicated to creating a more open world and we are excited to reveal Absolut Drop, which is the ultimate expression of this purpose.
“By bringing people together with a message of love, we can create a sign of solidarity and together drive positive change to create a brighter and more open world.”
Yes, there’s a bit of marketing spiel in there. But there’s also substance. And significance. And a welcome antidote to so much of the intolerance that taints our troubled world.
I reread the original press release and our incarnation of the story several times. I then did some research into Absolut’s involvement with the LGBTQ community. This is no mere tokenism. Absolut has been supporting the LGBTQ community since the early 1980s. “It is our firm belief that a colourful, diverse and respectful world is something to strive and work for. Everybody should be able to be, exactly who they are,” said the brand company in 2018 when it released Absolut Rainbow, the third annual special presentation in honour of the LGBTQ community.
July 27 will mark the 50th anniversary of homosexuality being decriminalised in England & Wales. But homosexuality is still illegal in 72 countries and gay men and women remain subject to appalling treatment in many of them.
I edited the story with hugely increased admiration for Pernod Ricard and Absolut and with pleasure that the industry I inhabit is capable of being a public platform for tolerance and understanding.
I thought about the headline that we should use a lot. I just could not get it right. And then it came to me. Absolut turns the language of hate into the spirit of love. It sums the project up nicely, and reaffirms my view that this is one of the stories of the year. Impressive? Absolutly.
Why Absolut is spreading a message of love Absolut said that it believes in creating “a better, more open world. One where everyone has the freedom to express their true selves, without fear or discrimination. “For 35 years, we have been proud to stand behind with the LGBT+ community, championing equal love for all,” it continued. “We celebrate the right of individuals to love whomever they choose, wherever they come from.”
Through the years, Absolut has activated a wide range of LGBT+ initiatives, including the first spirits bottle ever to wear the rainbow flag, which was made in collaboration with Gilbert Baker, the designer behind the original flag. More recently, the brand marked the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales with its Kiss With Pride campaign. |
