By Ian Neubauer
Vin&Spirit’s ‘In an Absolut World’ advertising campaign is in the spotlight again after the vodka maker published an ad in US Cosmo featuring a rendered image of a pregnant man.
The campaign that parodies idealised scenarios in different cultural contexts drew widespread condemnation in April over a poster that depicted Mexican sovereignty over a number of American states.
Calls to boycott the iconic brand in the US saw Vin&Spirit pull the ad and publish an apology. However, the latest instalment created by TBWA/Chait/Day of New York suggests the Swedish vodka maker that was recently acquired by French liquor giant Pernod Ricard has not lost its enthusiasm for controversy.
“What is their point? That it would be neato if guys could have babies,” wrote one irate blogger. “People are so desperate to push the envelope these days that they don’t take the time to stop and think about whether or not the message they’re sending makes any sense. It says nothing and, in all likelihood, was created for sheer shock value alone.”
“OK, lets put aside the fact that pregnancy in spirit ads seems questionable at best. [But] what made you guys think that I’d wanna give up my superpowers of creating little humans in my belly?” wrote another. “In an ideal world, my boobs would bounce back, stretchmarks wouldn’t exist, the first months of nursing wouldn’t be so excruciatingly painful and I’d end up with a better looking body at the end of it.”
Absolut spokesperson Clare Dunstan said the ad would not be published in Australia.
“We are not running the ad in Australia,” she said. “One of the reasons the new Abolsut campaign came about is that we wanted to get into electronic media.”
Absolut released three online ads for the new campaign in Australia. They were Protest, which saw protestors and riot police battle it out with pillows; Moon; in which the moon doesn’t just light up the night but elevates a party; and Kevin, which saw a Kevin Rudd impersonator caught practicing tai chi and indigenous dance moves in his parliamentary office.
To vote for your favourite ‘In an Absolut World’ ad, click here.