The Past Is Present For The Martin Agency In Premier Print Series For Finlandia Vodka

Hoping that its origins as pure glacial spring water will make an impression on vodka drinkers seeking a smoother taste, The Martin Agency has tapped into the theme of past lives in its first major print advertising campaign for Finlandia.
The Richmond, Va., agency won the $8 million-plus Finlandia account last May.
The advertising campaign’s past-life motif plays to the fact that the water used in the production of Finlandia Vodka is naturally filtered through rock formed during the Ice Age.
The ads show two to four photographs, each with a different handwriting beneath the visuals, alluding to the subject’s earlier incarnation. To wit: “Once I was a court jester. I hated that damn hat.” Others read: “Once I was a tightrope walker. I sneezed.” and “I was a gypsy. I accidentally drank a love potion meant for another and lost my heart to a horse.”
All the ads conclude with a picture of a glass of vodka over ice bearing the Finlandia Vodka logo and the copy line about the product’s past “life”: “I was pure, glacial spring water.”
Some of the images were pulled from stock books, while others were culled from photographers’ portfolios.
“I hunted through a lot of books to find just the right pictures,” said Jamie Mahoney, The Martin Agency’s senior art director on the Finlandia advertising campaign. “I wanted [the images] to have a mystical quality.”
The new print ads are breaking in national consumer magazines like Advocate, Esquire, George, Sports Illus-trated, Vanity Fair and Wired. Most of the executions will consist of two-page color spreads, though a few will be four- or eight-page versions.
The Martin Agency production team included president and chief creative officer Mike Hughes, vice president and senior copywriter Raymond McKinney and art director Mahoney.