NEW YORK Instead of Katy Perry or Kanye West, Absolut Vodka may get the most attention from its scheduled appearance during the 51st Grammy Awards this past Sunday night. Absolut has taken the bold step of breaking the voluntary ban of spirits advertising on broadcast TV.
In the third hour of the Grammys, affiliates in 14 of the top DMAs were slated to run a 30-second TV spot called "Hugs." It marked the first time a commercial for a distilled-spirits product would appear on any CBS-owned local broadcast stations.
The move is a controversial one. Advocacy groups claim that children under 21 already see too much alcohol-related advertising and allowing liquor marketers on network TV will only exacerbate this fact.
In 2001, NBC became the first to experiment with carrying a liquor ad on its New York flagship station, selling Smirnoff vodka time on Saturday Night Live.
Although that branding spot was meant to be followed by months of pro-social messaging about responsible alcohol consumption, the subsequent backlash from Congress and advocacy groups made it untenable for NBC to continue the arrangement.
Since then, NBC made tentative forays back into the category, airing spots on its New York affiliate from Bacardi and Grey Goose.
According to a CBS rep, the affiliates will run the Absolut ad at their own discretion: "Each of our local station general managers is responsible for evaluating the suitability of ads. In this case, they determined that the creative for this particular spot is tasteful and appropriate for the stations' late-evening audiences."
Produced by TBWA\Chiat\Day, New York, the "Hugs" ad is an exercise in restrained buoyancy, presenting a softly-lit parallel universe where affection is coin of the realm, a kiss on the cheek the sanctioned currency. Scored with the Louis Armstrong standard, "A Kiss to Build a Dream On," it ends with the "In an Absolut world" tag and an understated product shot.
The "Hugs" spot, built as the TV extension of a brand campaign that launched in spring 2007, aired after 10 p.m. Sunday in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston and 10 other top-20 markets, an ambitious local buy reaching 31 percent of all U.S. TV households.
This week, the ad will be seen in seven local markets, with the particulars of each buy determined by individual stations. If all goes according to plan, Absolut will piece together a second TV buy in the latter half of the year.
Continue to next page →
