Richard W. Lewis

I may have read the second book in this series first, but that didn’t ruin any of the information in the seminal book chronicling the history of Absolut Vodka advertising. The second book contained a brief overview of the history before diving straight into the ads themselves, but this book presents a much more detailed origin story, telling stories of the friendly rivalry between Absolut and Stolichnaya, the original personas involved, and of course detailing the early attempts at Swedish-themed ads before settling on the effectively simple campaign that continues to this day. I think that no matter how many ads the company produces I’ll always be fascinated by the creativity and art behind them, so having access to the early ads (which I was obviously too young to see in real life) and the rare ads which only appeared in specific publications (lucky New Yorkers readers!) is a great boon. The ad that shocked me the most in this collection was surprisingly one which looks like it could have originated in Saskatchewan; the Absolut team actually commissioned a farmer to grow specific crops in a pattern, just so that they could get an aerial image for the campaign! If that’s not dedication to creativity, then I don’t know what is!… (mer)

I’ve always been a fan of the creative genius behind the Absolut vodka advertising campaigns, so I was absolut(e)ly delighted when I stumbled upon this book at Winners a while ago and just had to purchase it. It’s obviously the second part of a duology that explores the full range of the campaigns, but I read it first anyways because I just couldn’t wait to explore the range of ads that this book collects. The author does an excellent job of organizing them into thematic sections (a relatively easy task methinks, since the campaigns tend to be thematic or go through design trends over the years), but he also provides a running commentary that explores the characters behind the ads (not all of them employees of the company), collectors of Absolut memorabilia (Absolut fans, haha), with tidbits of company history, all balanced with a certain sense of pithy humour that keeps the book from becoming too academic. Without becoming a collector of the ads (I do have a handful, but I don’t scour the newsstands), this book is an invaluable collection and I absolutely must get my hands on the first volume!… (mer)