We Are Surrounded By Advertisements Media Essay

The Absolut Vodka advertising campaign has been going on successively from 1981.this has been going on for over twenty years; this is practically forever in advertising. Industry insiders consider it being the most successful campaigns when it comes to the history of advertising. It is not often that one comes across ads which scratch on the copy to center of attention on the visual appeal. Absolut Vodka is one such campaign. More over the star of the ads is constantly the gorgeous, sneaky, chameleon-like bottle from Sweden. It is brilliant as it focuses on the visual to pass the message. The Absolut ads are mainly celebrated for their ingenuity as their longevity. They are full of humor, invention, and thoughts as they deftly talk about the brand’s values, often containing little confronts to the reader to understand just what is going on inside the ad. Still advertising campaign has gone into a point of wining many rewards, as well as charter membership in the American Marketing Association. It was initiated into the Hall of Fame in 1992 together with two additional brands: Coca Cola and Nike. The advertising campaign was conceded by TBWA Advertising. In order to ensure this report, there is a need to analyze the turn out ads for this brand to show the role played in shaping the fortune of ABSOLUT. However there are a diversity of themes which the agency worked on in attempt to reveal the fascinating usage of symbols and signs expressing the message of the brand. This include; cities, arts, products and holidays etc.

It was necessary to delve into the past of the brand while taking a look at the communication messages so as find its meaning . this help to see how the layers kept increasing to the brand images. Absolut Vodka is a Swedish brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, Scania, in southern Sweden . Although, it was not a refined product, it contained world class raw components: uncontaminated Swedish water and wheat . this was referred as “Absolut pure vodka” . in 1970, the Swedish government had taken control of the production and distribution of the beverage alcohol industry, including Absolut .By the late 1970’s, , Abosult would have to become an export product incase the distillery would survive .The brand owners surprisingly knew that they had to tap America as the main market . In the 1970s America reported thatr 60% of the vodka was being consumed in the free world However most of vodka consumed in America was made in America and it was sold cheaply .it was held that all vodka are of the same quality this was because the production was effortless. Especially when compared with Scotch and other whiskeys .only a few of necessary ingredients were needed and there was no need for aging., as with Scotch and other whiskeys .another reason is that majority of consumers mixed their vodka with tomato juice, orange juice, tonic or other mixers. They didn’t much care about the underlying quality of the vodka.

The piercing on the bottle is the signifier that has more to do with the norms of the gay and punk communities found in America probably in 1960’s. The fashion accessory shown here is symbolic of current upcoming society particularly the gay subculture. That was gaining momentum. The ad was even released through the time. The piercing also symbolizes a non-traditionalist fashion proclamation. Further it is symbolizes use of human body as a image to show the freedom from the community norms or system of behavior Signified. Sincerely speaking about experimenting with your body is the implication that comes visually in the ad. This is shown with the result of glow in the background. It works as a glare of publicity. Well the bottle is no longer just a bottle, but a metaphor of the human body. The identification of people who believed to the concept of being Practical with their body, particularly the gay subculture

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The upright body language of the bottle possibly has a direct connection to the human posture and demonstrates the boldness of the person to go communicate to the world. The ad gives them this space to voice their openness. This space then becomes their platform of self-expression. Almost as if to say, this is me & I am comfortable with myself and the way I want to experiment with my body. The endeavor of the marketer is to no longer keep it restricted to drinking vodka but to make the bottle an icon that is relevant to them. This icon is then anticipated to be holding close by them. Also important to note that the color coding of a black background exaggerates their emergence. Gay as a trend has existed since time memorials. The black background shows how these people may have actually come out from the darkness or the shadows which they were hiding behind to an open platform into the public interest. They can now declare their sexual predilections.

The Absolut Vodka bottle over the years has become conventional sign in advertising. It has been branded so well that shape of the bottle itself has turn out to be an iconic figure for designers as well as the general community. Main stress in their ads has paid attention on symbolic descriptions and ideas which most of the time contain a dual meaning. The translation of the meaning is slightly simple though enough for viewers to like because the meaning differs throughout every ad even though the idea is always the same.

The ads often relate to ideologies within the society, following general trends, political affairs and art. Due to this, the advertisements do not always focus on audience but slightly expended their boarders to reach different kinds of demographics.

By maneuvering the bottle Absolut has managed to clearly bring the meaning of the message through symbols and language from the surrounding For example, introduction of the slogan ‘Absolut Brrr! which was visually fixed with a bottle covered in blizzard. Through this we are able to see the strong relationship that Absolut Vodka ads have with iconicity and how over the years successfully branded the product.

The world’s longest and interrupted advertising campaign named absolute vodka was founded in 1879 by Lars Olsson Smith the now forth largest international spirit is now available to more than 126 nations. This is all due to much fame through its advertising campaign that made it win many awards, including charter membership in the American Marketing Association’s Marketing Hall of Fame. The original idea for the campaign is said to have come from a South African artist; who claim to have gotten the idea while in his bathing tube.33333333

The magnifying glass is used to emphasize the name and the country from where Absolut Vodka comes. This shows the nervousness in the connection between USA and Soviet Union. This ad was published when the Soviet Union was particularly unpopular in the United States due to its invasion of Afghanistan and also the downing of a Korean jetliner,The time period in which was this ad subtly emphasized the fact that Absolut was made in Sweden, not in Russia. It was common knowledge that Vodka was synonymous with Russia. Despite speaking of it’s origin from Sweden on the produce itself. Most citizens who consumed the drink did not decode the message directly. It’s the same experience of how people at times fill in the gaps as they have embedded in their minds due to sub-conscious conditioning. I draw logic from the research done wherein people look at the first and the last word and are able to understand the word, irrespective of the spelling in between being right or wrong. In the same manner vodka comes from Russia was the accepted belief although one tend to take that in vain.

They were to state that the drink actually came from Sweden, but this would not occur to them that it is of great significance. This is because the connection has been well-known in their mind. The promoter was aware of this psychology of the consumer and they deliberately downplayed the Sweden relationship for the brand. This plan was employed until it was perfect time to highlight the truth. Thus during this period of anxiety the Key point delivered was on its Swedish origin.

There is a strategic placement of the silhouette of Absolut vodka bottle in the core of the visual cliché of Christmassy stuffs. Moreover this is a tactful route to turn out to be one of the numerous icons that portray tradition of Christmas celebration. This supply the consumer with what Christmas tradition is all about. The background of a home shows that consumption of Absolut vodka to commemorate Christmas at home is part and parcel of the Christmas tradition. Further a story is being told inside the toy train figure of the bottle. The setting probably explains the descriptions of how a typical American home seems to be during Christmas time. It right away talks to a socio-economic sector of families

Theme Absolut Cities: These ads are a sequence of cities-detailed ads Absolut Las Vegas; The idea that classify a city Signifier: Shrimps and sauce in this case, cap of the bottle arranged in the figure of the Absolut bottle Signified: The food relation of Las Vegas as a city disparate to the mental imagery which one would instantly draw for it as a Casino city. Well this ad is well done and of course breaks the illustration cliché of Las Vegas as a city. It also brings out another surface of it .it raises question why there is roughly purposeful intention not bring out the Sin City image of Las Vegas in the Ad .it is not wise to take vodka without beer. A true specialist will always eat something after downing a glass; hence the above visual-logic would make sense. Though we dint know relationship between shrimps with Las Vegas. Las Vegas is about extremes. This extends to shrimps which are seen as exotic food and probably invokes an elitist consumption attitude.

The advertising campaign for Absolut vodka was considered the best of the 20th century. Yet not known whether it was due to the ads, the unique bottle shape that made Absolut the best imported vodka in market.

Michel Roux of Carillon Importers spends more than any other label on advertising to ensured that the sales of the Swedish brand increased in declining market. Throw away ads of the industry’s typical bottle and glass , Geoff Hayes of the TBWA agency made the first Absolut excellence ad featuring the short, clear bottle putting on a halo.

Incidentally this was the same bottle claimed by marketing research to the tune of $ 78 000,that it would fail since it did not have a paper label and also the neck was very small for the bartenders to holt it. In Absolut Original the bottle was fixed in stone as if it was very old. In Absolut Manhattan a satellite photo of New York anticipated central park fashioned like a bottle. In Absolut Seattle a rain pond had the bottle figure and in Absolut L.A. a swimming pool was calculated in the now renowned bottle shape.

The city ads have turn out to be among the most admired Absolut ads. In Absolut San Francisco you barely observe the bottle for the fog. In Absolut Chicago the breeze is blowing away the inscriptions from the bottle. In Absolut D.C. the bottle is covered in red ribbon.

Most of European towns are featured, for instance, Absolut Copenhagen demonstrate doorway to Tivoli converted to the famous bottle shape. Also Holmenkollen was converted for Absolut Oslo, the locals cried foul, with no will to relate their much-loved game with alcohol. However in Absolut Berlin it was a piece of the wall and in Absolut Naples a lampshade and hanging laundry that wisely copied the shape of the bottle.

The greatest release for Absolut emerged when daughter of the Swedish Ambassador communicated to Andy Warhol into painting a celebrity statue of the bottle. The artist was fascinated because he never took alcohol. He only used Absolut as cologne. Absolut Warhol followed by ads comprising many unknown painters, photographers’ sculptors, but For artists like the Brazilian painter Britto, the Absolut payment was a commercial get through. All the samel Absolut has run almost 500 advertisements most of them featuring artists from varicose places. Up to date art community still talks about the 32-page Absolut Glasnost. Common run have shown South American, African Swedish, American, and other artists.

Absolut ads have become a collector’s item and many galleries actually sell old cut out ads. There are several books about the ads and the Absolut software (1-800-568-1566) that is a virtual museum of Absolut art.

The first seasonal Absolut advertisement extravaganza was a much-talked about microchip playing Christmas carols in 1987. Later ads have included a packet of seeds (Absolut Spring), Donna Karan mittens; designer silk scarves and panty hose all sporting the Absolut bottle. In 1990 the New York magazine had a working forty eight piece Absolut Puzzle. Another Christmas the agency created an ad with a snow flake-filled pouch so that Absolut Wonderland snowed as if it was in a glass ball when you shook it.

One year Absolut inserted a sheet of stamps with its Warhol, Haring and Rusha ads with an 80 proof denomination. The stamps were actually accepted by most post offices as legal postage.

For an ad in Playboy magazine, Absolut created an Absolut Centerfold with a bottle without any text on it but with an accompanying “playmate data sheet” complete with things like “the perfect night: at home with my closest friends, Sven, Björn, Ingmar, while jumping back and forth between the sauna and ice baths, we exchange our favorite galaxy recipes.”

If it had not been for Absolut and its “extender products” Pepper, Currant, Citron and Mandrin, the world may never have realized that Sweden had a substantial liquor production. Thanks to the campaign, Absolut may now be more famous than Volvo.

Today it is the House of Seagram’s that distributes Absolut in North America, after Michel Roux and Carillon Importers (who took the vodka from nothing to 3 million cases a year) was booted out by the Swedish VIN & Sprit monopoly. The successful Absolut marketing formula perfected in the U. S.A. is now practiced all over the world.

The advertising campaign has also led to many parodies. Mad magazine ran Absolut Liver with an x-ray of a liver that has a silhouette of – guess what? In Absolut Winter you see a virgin snow-covered background on which a man is urinating and thereby drawing a yellow pattern in the snow of – you guessed it.

When the advertising critical Ad busters ran ads entitled Absolut Nonsense, Absolut Impotence and Absolut Silence, the producers threatened to sue the magazine. The Absolut Nonsense copy stated “any suggestion that our advertising campaign has contributed to alcoholism, drunk driving or wife and child beating is absolute nonsense. No one pays any attention to advertising.”

When looking at a series of ads, we have a better idea of the artistic significance attached seen in the images.it is true to saythat the image of the Absolut bottle is now a cultural icon.it ia aimed to make it identifiable as a distinct sign of class for all who sees it.however the reader should recognise the vodka bottle surrounded by the text to make sense of the ad.  This expectation depends on the network of ads that have paved the way to it. quick identification of the image qualifies the reader of an Absolut ad to be a member of an private club.  the campaign aims to register everyone to be a member of the group by affirming that their art and the bottle, shows significant cultural reflections of people associated with the upper class that are appropriate to all associates without putting into consideration their actual class status.

The different genres of Absolut ads carry distinct cultural messages, and contain a universal class claim that is associated with the image of the vodka bottle.  The ads reinforce the cultural myth that American culture is defined in terms of class structure.  However, it offers a mixed message about class that is clear and liquid: class can be bought. this campaign has the idea that American society is clear in terms of class through setting ,object, , audience, camera angle in the advertisement.  The promotions confront this idea by making it public in most magazines reaching people of all kind.  Moreover they are bridging the gap in cultural class, when authorizing such a various audience connection into an exclusive ad campaign. The advertisement is not only selling the reader vodka, but also selling the false impression of an earned communal place connected with the higher class.

The class theme within the Absolut Vodka advertising campaign is demonstrated in one of the most new published Absolut ads entitled, “Absolut Voted-Off.”  This is very basic ad shows four bottles of seasoned Absolut Vodka put together on the left side of the page.  The bottles are described by bright, yellow, purple and orange. The original absolute vodka when you look at extreme right side of the page, which is not facing the viewers, is the original Absolut Vodka bottle that is only revealing half of its cold, blue label.  The text, “Absolut Voted-Off” appears at the bottom of the page.  What does this ad reveal on the surface?  At first glance it seems to be selling the new flavored vodkas, representing them as important and associated with a distinguished category.  However, this advertisement is characteristic of the mixed messages portrayed by the Absolut advertising campaign. 333333

Conclusion: Absolut Vodka ad campaign is unbeatably one of the big thoughts in the ad industry. This is because it has endured the test of time for over twenty years. Having gone through the ad campaign over a period of time, the semiotic the campaign is actually the preliminary years in which the bottle symbolized a person and his humanity. Moreover the campaign has something to do with the world and its inhabitance. The changeover is sparkling. From the marketer’s approach, these days Absolut is not just about America; it is mounting its reach internationally. Now It is no longer person precise and neither focus on personality’s story of belongingness or nor characteristics. It has more to do with the larger picture. It is the world that is today and what we wish be like. Interestingly the world these days is undeniably beyond America. In my standpoint an additional reason for this move is the heart-to-heart experience. Just to explain further, a kind of homogeneity is seen still in the immeasurable variety which is in existence today. However homogeneity might be; a need for safety from terrorism, the wish for cure to a fatal disease likes Aids, etc. The plan in the larger sense fits a combine aspect for nations, states, society and also persons. Never the less ad campaign concentrate on certain universal matters and for that reason it is trying to raise a global campaign and a innermost idea of what an Absolute World could be.