| Absolue Appeal Essay, Research Paper
Absolut Appeal
Everyone who has flipped through a magazine lately has found some humor in the latest creation of Absolut Art that has bombarded Absolut Vodka onto the shelves of every liquor store and the minds of every vodka drinker around. These series of advertisements show a bottle of Absolut Vodka cleverly disguised or incorporated into a picture or painting. These advertisements have become so amusing that there is a Society devoted to collecting and interpreting these advertisements. There is even a new form of contemporary art known as Absolut Art that consists of artists who paint new advertisements as their form of artistic expression or perhaps adoration of Absolut Vodka. Absolut Vodka uses a unique way of advertising that portrays the vodka in an artistic and humorous way of escaping the everyday troubles of reality. Absolut Vodka s way of advertising helps their advertisements to be noticed better and remembered longer. Absolut Vodka also shows the vodka as an upscale alcohol by aiming their advertisements at upscale activities such as golfing, gambling, or traveling. Absolut Vodka is also portrayed as a means of escape. These activities, such as golfing, gambling, or traveling, can all be interpreted as forms of escape.
Absolut Vodka has many strategies in their advertisements. The idea of hiding or incorporating the bottle in pictures and paintings draws a potential customer s eyes and attention to the bottle. It can take quite some time until the picture of the bottle is found in the advertisement, and this keeps the consumer s eyes on the advertisement longer. Because these advertisements are entertaining, they stay present in the consumer s mind longer then a factual advertisement would for the same product. These advertisements are considered by many as a form of art and are admired as a form of art. People who make their own advertisements, collect the advertisements, or think of the advertisement while drinking Absolut Vodka have all subconsciously given into the Absolut Appeal. (ad 1)
The slogan printed on the front of every Absolut Vodka bottle spells out a strong tradition of premium Swedish Vodka. This superb vodka was distilled from grain grown in the rich fields of Southern Sweden. It was produced at the famous old distilleries near Ahus in accordance with more then 400 years of Swedish tradition. Vodka has been sld under the name Absolut since 1879. This alone sets the consumer s mind that this is a very upscale and classy vodka. This idea of and upscale and classy vodka is also portrayed through the advertisements. In the advertisement for Absolut 19th (ad 2), an Absolut bottle is shown as a golf hole in a golf course from an ariel view. The way the hole is laid out, the beautiful landscape, and lake surrounding it all give the impression that this golf course would be very expensive to play on. This gives the consumer the impression that people that play on very expensive golf courses are the types of people who would drink Absolut Vodka. In the advertisement for Absolut Venice (ad 3), a group of birds on the ground of a beautiful scene in Venice are gathered in the shape of an Absolut bottle. This advertisement shows the desire to travel and see wonderful places. Traveling to places, such as Venice, is usually an activity reserved for the upscale or classy. In the advertisement for Absolut Monte Carlo (ad 4), a gambling table has taken the shape of an Absolut bottle. This shows that gamblers are associated with drinking Absolut Vodka. Gambling, especially in Monte Carlo, is most certainly an activity that has been reserved for the upscale and classy. All of these advertisements help to show Absolut Vodka in a sense that it will be associated with upscale and classy activities and consumers. However, these upscale and classy consumers can often need a form of escape in their world as well.
All of the above advertisements show activities that can be viewed as a form of escape. Jim Fowles noted how advertisers go after a consumer s need to escape in his essay Advertising s Fifteen Basic Appeals, Freedom is the pitch here, the freedom that every individual yearns for whenever life becomes too oppressive (Fowles 71). Absolut Vodka certainly presents an escape for whenever life becomes too oppressive through the activities and situations portrayed in their advertisements. After a long day at the office, the consumer may want to go out and shoot a round of golf, or after closing a big deal the consumer may want to run off to some exotic location and relax for awhile. Absolut has associated itself with all of these forms of escape, but it has also associated itself as the form of escape from the toils of everyday life. In the advertisement for Absolut Citron (ad 5), a number of taxi cabs caught in a traffic jam have been aligned to form the shape of an Absolut bottle. This advertisement shows a modern day situation that causes stress and makes the consumer feel a need for escape. The advertisement seems to say that after a long trip in a cab coming home from work, Absolut Vodka will help you get rid of your stress. Another advertisement also shows the need for escape very well. In the advertisement Absolut *%@*/@#(ad 6), a shoe is shown with a large quantity of gum stuck to the bottom of it, where the shape of the gum resembles the shape of an Absolut bottle. The shoe shown is a shoe that would commonly be worn with a suit, and we get the impression that owner of the shoe is on his way to or from work. In this case the advertisement seems to say that if you ruin your good shoes by stepping in some gum, Absolut Vodka can help take that stress away. These advertisements help to associate Absolut Vodka with everyday worries and offers Absolut Vodka as a way out of these everyday problems.
Absolut Vodka has undertaken one of the most brilliant advertisement campaigns of contemporary advertising. The neat pictures and artwork always seem to grab our attention and leave a lasting impression on us. It is found much easier to remember a picture or a joke then just simple facts. Absolut Vodka has managed to combine a picture and a joke into one brilliant advertising campaign. In these advertisements Absolut Vodka leaves a lasting impression in your mind, conveys an aristocratic presence of Absolut Vodka, and offers Absolut Vodka as a means of escape for many of our modern day problems and stresses. Through this unique advertising campaign, Absolut Vodka has definitely found its way into the minds, and mouths, of most drinkers. These advertisements clearly demonstrate why Absolut Vodka has such an Absolut Appeal.
Works Cited
Fowles, Jim. Advertisings Fifteen Basic Appeals. Common Culture: Reading and Writing About American Popular Culture. Eds. Michael Petrracca and Madeline Sorapore.
Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 1998. 60-77
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