absolut
kiss with pride
Capabilities:
The Big Bang. Kisses that defy the law. Naked factory workers.
They might seem like they have nothing in common – but they’re all part of how we helped get younger audiences loving (and buying) Absolut again.
500M
Eyeballs on the 'Kiss with Pride' Campaign.
7.75M
Views for 'The Vodka with Nothing to Hide'.
8.1M
Views for the 'Equal Love' film.
In the 1990s, Absolut was an icon – by 2016, less so. Everyone still knew the brand, but nobody really loved it. Especially not younger people.
Fewer swanky club nights, more purpose.
We knew woke-washing and rainbow capitalism weren’t going to fly with our target audience. We needed a genuine commitment to do good.
Fortunately, Absolut already had a strong legacy of progressiveness that we could build on.
We launched our new direction with a bang. A big one. Working with Hollywood Director Chivo, we celebrated the moments of creativity that made the world a better place, starting with the creation of the universe.
Next, we let loose five contemporary artists, including Olivia Steele, Mickalene Thomas & TOILETPAPER. Their canvas? The iconic Absolut bottle.
Absolut has endorsed equal love since 1879 and has one of the longest and proudest histories of supporting LGBTQ rights.
But we knew we could do more to push forward Absolut’s commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion. To celebrate half a century of decriminalised homosexuality in the UK, Absolut showed its true colours with a rainbow bottle for London Pride, London underground station takeovers, and a film showing a boundary-breaking kiss. We also created a Snapchat filter for which Absolut donated money to Stonewall every time it was used.
We took things even further by actively supporting people in the 72 countries where it’s still illegal to be gay. People from those countries were invited to ‘Kiss with Pride’; Absolut featured their photos in out of home ads, newspaper wraps and even in an exhibition in the Houses of Parliament.
While ‘Create a Better Tomorrow, Tonight’ was making Absolut famous again, we were facing a different type of competition from craft vodka brands. Fortunately, while Absolut is undeniably a big vodka brand, the production methods are small, craft-conscious and nothing but ‘onödigt bra’ (‘unnecessarily good’).
So we invited the world into the Absolut distillery to see exactly how ‘The Vodka With Nothing To Hide’ is made: in a carbon neutral process with as little waste as possible (even the stillage is fed to farm animals).
The twist? To show Absolut’s commitment to honesty – the naked truth, so to speak – everyone in the film was in the nude. Including Absolut’s own CEO.