Marketing Absinthe as the Date Rape Drink?
Posted: February 16th, 2006 | Author: Karl | Filed under: Marketing | 12 Comments »Alcohol is often marketed with the thinly veiled message that alcohol is a social lubricant and will likely get you laid. In this case though they are not beating around the bush with their tagline “the ultimate panty remover”
The Complete Campaign Landing Page (new window)
What the Hell is Absinthe Anyway
Absinthe is a very strong (60% to 70% by vol) green alcoholic drink that has slipped in and out of fashion and in and out of favor with the courts for a couple of hundred years. It is a distillation of the wormwood plant, green in color, with rumored hallucinogenic properties, give it a rather unique “position” in the alcoholic spirit world that is reflected in the art world. Some movie sightings of la Fée Verte (The Green Fairy”) such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, From Hell, Van Helsing, and HBO’s Carnivàle do hint at this drink’s reputation.
It’s all about context
Absinth.bz “seems” to have taken the position that absinthe could be the new “Roofy” with this recent campaign. Now I say they “seem” to have taken the position, but this may be one of those unfortunate marketing choices, that seemed like a good idea in the pitch meeting, but in the cold hard light of day, sounds far worse than intended. I have heard the term “panty remover” before in reference to a particularly swish car, and in that context it didn’t strike me as wildly inappropriate. I could even see “the ultimate panty remover” as a tag line in an ad campaign for a particularly ostentatious car and I don’t think I would give it much of a second thought. But in the context of a “barely legal*” alcoholic beverage, with a reputation as a hallucinogen, it does give you pause.
This landing page that was served up when I clicked through from a site that proported to be “the mens portal” and the “online equivalent to maxim” so this is a pretty specifically targeted ad. I imagine this is an ad that the company only wants a select few people to see, if you go to the front page of the site, it actually could pass muster as work safe, with the sauciest reference being to one of their product packages “Ab-SIN-ity”. Which begs the question, how can you possibly expect to hide anything this salacious on the internet?
The one aspect of this campaign that helps position this more as erotica as opposed to “endorsing date rape” is the quote here from Marilyn Mansons wife.
Aside: I’m not entirely sure what inhibitions this attractive young lady has to lose, but clearly she lost them.
I’m actually very much on the fence as to whether this is a brilliant ad, or a huge marketing error? It could potentially destroy the company, or propel it to stardom? Who knows, but I’m fascinated as to what happens next.
Afterthought: In some ways this reminds me of that Dudley Moore film “Crazy People” where he is an ad man so “crazy” he tells the truth, like this bit of copy:
Reference:
One of the more interesting wikipedia article details Absinthe’s long history
A friend pointed me to another related article on Absinthe in Wired
