EPISODIC BREAKDOWN.

EPISODE #1

1979-1984: From the Country, Vodka Perfected. 

The story doesn’t just start with the launch of an ad campaign in 1981, it started years prior, across the pond, in Sweden, when the Swedes strategized a way to launch, export and sell vodka throughout the US. 1978-1983. The strategizing, planning, executing, and exporting of the first bottles of Absolut Vodka—a completely unknown type and brand of liquor, imported to the US from an obscure Scandinavian country. V&S Vin (manufacturers/the Swedes) establish a relationship with Carillon Importers in New Jersey. Al Singer and Michel Roux take on the task of launching and selling Absolut in the US. Michel Roux, a larger than life French man, hires TBWA Advertising as agency of record, tasked with creating advertising concepts that could persuade Americans—primarily “brown liquor” drinkers to consider trying and drinking vodka. They target a new demographic referred to as “yuppies.”

Geoff Hayes and Graham Turner, a young, award winning creative team are scouted, interviewed, hired and relocated to NYC in 1980 from London by TBWA. The creative duo accept the job and move to NYC, albeit begrudgingly. However, upon touching down in the Big Apple, they fall in love instantly—and become inspired by the gritty, post-70’s NYC they are becoming immersed in.

Hayes and Turner are briefed by creative director Carol Anne Fine—only there’s no actual brief. Hayes and Turner present two concepts to Michel Roux, one of them being a series of 11 ads that showcase the product front and center, with a 2-word headline affixed prominently beneath the bottle, a campaignable idea that started with an ad called Absolut Perfection which simply featured a halo hanging over the bottle. The client picked this campaign, and it went into production.

The first episode ends on a dramatic and unexpected note, with Geoff Hayes and Graham Turner making the decision to leave NYC to return to London. So, just as the campaign is just taking off, its creators abandon it, leaving its uncertain future hanging in the balance. While also leaving a gaping hole in TBWA’s creative team—who will fill Hayes’ and Turners’ shoes?

The Absolut campaign officially launches in the US. Absolut Perfection, though beautiful, perfect, and disruptive in its own right—especially in the liquor advertising category—is tucked away in 2-3 magazines. After Perfection, 11 ads in total are produced and published in several prominent magazines. The feeling is universal that although the campaign concept is a winner, the flat “milk bottle” look should feel more premium. After an extensive search, Steve Bronstein is hired as the brand photographer and transforms the ads—establishing the look and feel that ultimately, the campaign would become known for.  Without knowing they’d just created and launched what would grow on to become the most famous ad campaign of all time, Hayes and Turner decide to leave the agency, and return to London, so they do so.

EPISODE #2

1983-85: Madison Avenue EXCESS

We show the advertising industry in the pre-digital 80s: the excess, the pomp and the money at stake. We hear from famous ad men like Lee Klow and Dan Weiden. We see the expansion of TBWA and where they sit in relation to other established and up and coming agencies like Chiat Day.

We also pick up where we left off in episode one, answering the question of who TBWA decided to assign to the Absolut account in the wake of Hayes’ and Turner’s departure. This moment becomes a theme throughout the story—creative control would continue to change hands over the course of the decades, but part of Absolut’s success could be attributed to always having one team leading the charge. While it took many hands to create just one ad, especially in the 80s, there was always one creative team “owning” the campaign. With each new team, and as the campaign grew and became increasingly successful, this responsibility became increasingly important.

So Dave Warren and Tom McManus find new ways to further and innovate—taking what Turner and Hayes had created in a different, yet logical, direction. Starting with Absolut Stardom (the first ad without an actual bottle), and then Absolut LA (the first city), fresh creative thinking has opened new doors for the campaign. Suddenly, the opportunities, and possible solutions for what that second word after “Absolut” could become, becomes infinite. Absolut LA changes the game, wins awards, and puts the campaign, the agency and anyone associated with the work, on the map.

Mark Borow, a well known model maker in NYC, is hired by Bronstein and begins building sets for the shoots. Hayes returns to TBWA and reigns over it as The Godfather and creative director of the campaign. The AIDS epidemic has begun to decimate the gay community, especially in NYC.  Turner and Hayes decide to relocate back to NYC. So, both do. Both go into talks with TBWA about returning. Hayes ultimately returns in 85.

Turner does not. One would go on to become the “creator” of the campaign and receive all of the glory. One would not, and go on to be essentially left out of the story, and practically forgotten. We start to see the politics and machinations that go behind the scenes when the stakes increase. 

EPISODE #3

1986-95: Absolut Vodka, Meet Andy Warhol 

Richard Lewis is hired as global account director on the now established, award winning campaign. In 86, the first “spectacular” ad isconceived and launched—production challenges which require far more solving, innovating and resources than the typical print ad requires. The first spectacular ad, Have an Absolut Ball—inset in New York Magazine—plays music when the reader opens it. There has never been an ad produced on this level in the history of advertising. It is a game changer. 

From ads that play music when you open them, silk stockings, and a silk scarf designed by Nicole Miller to puzzles; ads that snow; and wool mittens designed by Donna Karan—the spectacular ads—advertising firsts—became an annual tradition.

In 1986, Michel Roux asks Andy Warhol to paint the bottle. The agency fights him tooth and nail on it, but Roux prevails. Absolut Warhol, the first brand collaboration in advertising history, also changes the game forever. The campaign has become prolific, about 25 ads have been produced. It becomes an octopus, of sorts. Beauty bottle shots which play off of a brand, product or flavor attribute, artist ads, and spectacular ads will continue to allow more people, more hands, more artists, and more vendors an opportunity to work on and attach themselves to the campaigns growing success.

TBWA starts innovating, producing extremely expensive ads which stand out among all other advertising in magazines. It becomes impossible to open a magazine in the US and not see an Absolut ad. Between 1986-2004, it would be almost impossible to open a magazine or, in some cases, a newspaper, without coming face to face with an Absolut ad—disrupting and cementing itself in the public consciousness.

TBWA explores allowing other well known local artists to paint the bottle. Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, Ed Ruscha, follow in Warhol’s footsteps. The campaign is now a part of the zeitgeist. New creative talent is brought in to continue to innovate, create and expand the campaign from an advertising campaign to a pop culture phenomenon—with infinite possibilities and solutions. The campaign is now nationally known, built into the pop culture, and Absolut Vodka’s profits, brand and advertising are soaring in an unprecedented way. The campaign evolves its artistic arm—and experiments with allowing NYC’s top fashion gurus to create and design in their style, leveraging the brand. By now hundreds of artists, globally, have painted the bottle, as well as fashion designers, furniture designers, etc. The impossible has happened. It’s now “cool” to be associated with the Absolut brand and everyone wants in.

EPISODE #4

1995-1997: Digital killed the Analog Star 

Mid 90s—the world, and the ad industry, are shifting—from analog, to digital. Techniques, like photography, production and media buys are beginning to shift as well. Also, after launching the first flavored vodka, “Absolut Citron” followed by “Absolut Peppar” and then “Absolut Kurant”, Absolut has expanded their portfolio of products—which opened the doors for even more advertising possibilities—while also transforming the liquor landscape forever. 

Dan Braun is brought in to digitize the agency, leading to many changes in the agency, and to swiftly to Braun’s ascendancy to the new lead creative on the brand.

Computers become more mainstream, what was once done all by hand, and took hours, weeks and months, and millions, now takes mere minutes.  Now a strange and unprecedented global phenomenon has begun—college students and teenagers have made a hobby—an obsession—out of collecting of the ads.The news media takes notice and stories about the massive collector base play out in newspaper articles and nightly news segments. 

The amount of ads, combined with the clever, pop culturally relevant ongoing conversation the campaign is having with its viewers, has hooked an unlikely audience—people not even old enough to buy or drink the product—inspiring hundreds if not thousands of collectors around the world. Librarians across the US become aware that teenagers are sneaking into libraries, rifling through the magazines back issues sections, lifting the ads and stealing them from the library. Metal detectors are placed at the entrances of many libraries to detect X-acto blades and scissors. 

In 1995 big business changes are afoot and The Swedes—who have just sold their billionth case of Absolut Vodka—devise a controversial plan to part ways with Carillon Importers, after a decade and a half of hyper growth and global domination—mostly due to Michel Roux’s larger than life, flamboyant personality. Michel Roux has made himself the face of the brand, to the dismay of the Swedes, and in a move that was unforeseen and unexpected, they hire Seagram’s as their new importer in a top secret deal. Roux has the rug pulled out from under him, Carillon is axed, and the brand is forced into a more corporate and less creative-friendly position. 

Further tumult ensues when a short time later, in a bold move, TBWA merges with Chiat Day, considered the Pirate Ship of Agencies. Typically what happens in a merger is the dominant buyer lays waste to the acquired—meaning that the TBWA staff should run things. But what happens next can only be described as a “blood bath” as the entire creative team from TBWA and most of its account and production staff is fired. That’s advertising folks.

Now Absolut, the jewel in the crown is “up for grabs” and whomever controls Absolut, controls the agency. But the brand steps in and retains a few key Absolut staffers to maintain continuity including Account director Lewis, creative director Hayes, and Braun who all survive the purge. 

EPISODE #5

1997-2000: The End of an Era/The Dark Side of Creative Genius 

By now, the campaign is the zeitgeist, and begins to show up in tv shows like The Sopranos and Sex and the City. Also, the campaign is now global, with TBWA offices around the world creating the first “localized” ads, which are customized for the audiences living in their regions. French ads, Canadian ads, British ads, Australian ads—the now global campaign is an ongoing conversation, and mirror, interwoven through every publication, all across the globe. By now, there are around 1,000 ads. 

Iconic photographers like Helmut Newton are invited to shoot entire fashion spreads which become part of the campaign. And, simultaneously, the fashion industry has transformed. Vogue magazine, and the Absolut campaign, have turned once relatively unknown fashion designers into celebrities. The fashion ads grow from featuring dresses created by emerging NYC designers to 10-page spreads full of Absolut-themed lines created by Tom Ford for Gucci, Donatella Versace and more. 

After over a decade of managing the campaign and ensuring its longevity, Richard Lewis, the account director, writes and produces Absolut Book—a love letter to the global collector base and all of the adoring fans—which becomes a New York Times Bestseller. Millions of copies are sold, several editions are produced. Five years later, piggybacking off of its unexpected success, Lewis launches Absolut Sequel. 

Digital has now taken over the world and, by 1997, the agency is fully computerized and anyone who hasn’t caught up is in the cross hairs. Photoshop and digital photography replace humans and as a result, devoted long-time team members who just assumed they’d be part of the ride forever are thrown overboard like garbage. 

Geoff Hayes, the original designer and “Godfather of the campaign” has spiraled downward into an all encompassing state of alcoholism. He’s in a total state of decline, but the agency refuses to intervene. An intense power struggle between the original TBWA Absolut staff and the new Chiat Day blood creates in fighting and an open war with many casualties to come. 

In 2006, the founder of the campaign Geoff Hayes takes his own life, putting a final nail in the coffin of the campaign.

EPISODE #6

2000-2006: Y2K in NYC 

The Swedish Government fights to acquire the complete collection of art, an 850-piece contemporary art collection made up of Warhols, Harings, Brittos, all the fashion, and all the furniture that was all created and used for the campaign. They ultimately win, and become the rightful owners—forcing them to go to great lengths to find and recover every last piece that was ever created. Including discovering that a second Warhol was made, and never used, and was given to the son of a former Seagram’s executive—which launched a huge, ongoing court battle. The Swedes ultimately won. Today, the entire collection of art is kept safe in a top secret bunker located below Stockholm, and the art is curated and showcased in revolving shows at SpritMuseum in Stockholm, a museum dedicated to all of Sweden’s liquor brands. But, mostly Absolut.

20 years after the campaign has ended, the brand has never been able to launch another campaign that could even come close to matching the success of the iconic bottle ad campaign.

However, there is still a global army of devout collectors who, instead of collecting the ads, now collect bottles—which have replaced the ads. 

Absolut hosts an annual collectors event in Ahus Sweden, where 100 tickets will go up for sale on a specific day/time, and will end up selling out in 10 minutes. Each year, 100 collectors will fly from all over the world to be educated, wined, dined and entertained by The Absolut Company—whom, in a new world of influencers, finally recognize their collector base as their greatest asset, and respect and leverage those devout hobbiests in a way no other brand does, or ever has. 

Is this the end, or could their be a re-birth. Possibly through Absolut Documentary, or maybe nostalgia, the world might be ready for another, new chapter of the classic Absolut Campaign.