Discus Wants to Dismantle the SVEDKA Fembot

SVEDKA vodka is on notice from the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (Discus) for their SVEDKA_Grl advertising campaign which features the tagline "The Future of Adult Entertainment." This is nothing new. They've been on notice for this before and they've been warned before this for some of their previous advertising. The only reason it is now surfacing in an AdAge article is because they were recently purchased by Constellation Brands for $384 million. Constellation is one of the "pillars" of Discus so now they have a dilemma on their hands. Support the the No. 5 imported vodka they just purchased, whose sales are up 60%, or their trade organization who is trying to keep alcohol from becoming the next Big Tobacco.

It'll be interesting to see how things shake out for SVEDKA if the campaign is pulled. I find it hard to believe that this advertising could be driving the growth of the brand. It does work hard to get your attention and is different from other import vodka brands, but I can't see any real strategy in it other than to leverage sex - a sexual double entendre with their tagline and the idea of sex (with a robot?).

I'm more inclined to believe that they've done an o.k. job at bars and nightclubs getting some sampling and trial. I'm also more likely to believe that when a consumer goes to buy vodka on somewhat of a budget, they see SVEDKA, priced below Absolut and Stoli, but looking a bit more premium than other value brands and it is this which is driving their growth. Not to mention that they're just a part of the overall growth trends experienced by liquor/spirits, especially with vodka brands.

The ad campaign has been around since late 2005 and received various coverage when it broke back then. They've certainly been having fun and getting creative with it.

What I couldn't believe is that nobody was calling them out for ripping off Bjork & Chris Cunningham from Bjork's 1999 video for All is Full of Love (below). Then I finally found this and this. Glad others saw it too. In the process of searching for info on the video, I came across this page with background info on how they came up with the idea for the video and then made it, which is a great read.