30 Years of Absolut Ads Targetg the Gay Communy - CBS News

Contents:

• ABSOLUT CELEBRAT ITS 30 YEARS OF MARKETG TO GAY CONSUMERS
• 30 YEARS OF ABSOLUT ADS TARGETG THE GAY COMMUNY
• THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; ABSOLUT CTOMIZ A MPAIGN TO SALUTE THE GAY AND LBIAN ALLIANCE AGAST DEFAMATN.

ABSOLUT CELEBRAT ITS 30 YEARS OF MARKETG TO GAY CONSUMERS

AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisgAbsolut Celebrat Its 30 Years of Marketg to Gay ConsumersOct.

30 YEARS OF ABSOLUT ADS TARGETG THE GAY COMMUNY

Absolut, the Swedish vodka sold by Pernod Rird, is troducg a mpaign that memorat 30 years of the brand’s efforts to reach Amerin nsumers who are lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr, a market now known as the L. The startg pot me when advertisements for Absolut ran 1981 two magaz read by gay men, The Advote and After target marketg was highly unual three s ago, when almost all mastay brands shied om the market for fear of alienatg the larger, mastream market.

Absolut beme the “first big brand to m to and pursue the market” by beg “the first ntuoly prent major brand gay media, ” said Michael Wilke, the former executive director of the Commercial Closet Associatn who is now senr Uned Stat nsultant for Out Now Consultg. A prt ad will appear publitns read primarily by gay men and lbians like The Advote, Instct and Out, as well as two general-market magaz, Vany Fair and prt ad was created llaboratn by Pernod Rird USA; TBWA/Chiat/Day New York, part of the TBWA Worldwi divisn of the Omni Group, which has been producg Absolut mpaigns sce 1980; SPI Marketg New York, which has been the Absolut agency for the L. It was Michel Roux, the print and chief executive of Carillon, who first cid that Absolut should pursue gay and lbian nsumers bee, he was fond of sayg, they were trendsetters whose brand-buyg habs would eventually be adopted by younger, hipper segments of the market.

Exampl addn to “Absolut Outrageo” clu “Absolut Glaad, ” honorg the Gay and Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn; “Absolut Out, ” billboards wh three-dimensnal closets, the doors open; and “Absolut Commment, ” a weddg ke topped by a pair of (intil) bottl. ”Acrdg to Stt Sez, print at SPI Marketg, Absolut has earned the loyalty of the “more mature gay and lbian nsumer, ” ag 40 and olr, who rell the brand’s history and s iativ like fund-raisg for AIDS chari. ”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn B, Page 3 of the New York edn wh the headle: Absolut Celebrat Its 30 Years of Marketg to Gay Consumers.

THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING; ABSOLUT CTOMIZ A MPAIGN TO SALUTE THE GAY AND LBIAN ALLIANCE AGAST DEFAMATN.

Absolut, the Swedish vodka brand known for s inic bottle advertisg, is markg 30 years of ads targetg the gay muny wh -- what else? It still mak headl when mastream advertisers addrs the gay and lbian muny ads, pecially mastream media. Anti-gay prottors recently protted Target for advertisg durg Degrassi, a drama that has featured several gay storyl, on the Nick Teen channel.

But was a brave move back 1981 when Absolut, then a relatively unknown brand, first ran ads The Advote and After Dark, two magaz read by gay men. The Pernod Rird brand (and s ad agency, TBWA Worldwi) is rather more -your-face about thgs now: In 2008 ran a PR mpaign around the theme, "In an ABSOLUT World All Men Are Created 'Equal' and Gay Marriage Is a Celebrated Realy.

Here are 10 more Absolut ads that you may, or may not, have known were part of the gay vodka gallery of 30 years of Absolut's gay ads». Unsurprisgly, also ran the gay prs, where s nuanc were terpreted differently.