Absolut Vodka

Help building the largest human-edited directory of the web Suggest URL - Open Directory Project - Become an editor

directopedia.org uses links and structure from dmoz Open Directory Project.
The contents has been generating using technology developed by scientec.

Absolut Vodka is a Swedish brand of vodka, owned by V&S Group, and produced at their facilities near Åhus, Skåne in southern Sweden.

Building on a four century tradition of producing Vodka at Åhus, Absolut was introduced in 1879 by the entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith. Absolut is the third largest brand of spirits in the world after Bacardi and Smirnoff, marketed in 126 countries. The largest export market is the United States where close to 73 million litres were sold in 2003. More than 40% of the imported vodka in the USA is Absolut.

Contents 1 Origin of name 2 Marketing 3 External links 4 Sources

Origin of name

The name "Absolut" was introduced in 1879 by the entrepreneur Lars Olsson Smith. Smith introduced fractional distillation that produces liquor without fusel oil in Sweden. The name "Absolut Renat Brännvin" (Totally Distillated Vodka) was introduced by Smith to market his much improved product. Smith challenged the city of Stockholm's liquor marketing monopoly with his superior vodka. It was sold at a lower price than the monopoly's product, just outside the city border. Smith even offered free boat rides to the distillery and "Absolut Renat Brännvin" made Smith a fortune. In 1917 the alcohol industry in Sweden was monopolized by the Swedish government. Vodka was then sold nationwide under the name "Absolut Renat Brännvin". The name of the by then rather unfashionable brand was cropped to "Renat Brännvin" in the mid 1970's. In 1979 the old name Absolut was picked up when the upper-price range Absolut Vodka was introduced.

Marketing

Much of Absolut's fame is due to its long-running advertising campaign based on the distinctive bottle shape. Started around 1980, and with more than 1500 ads, the ad campaign is the longest running ever. Many of the ads are quite clever, frequently featuring an Absolut bottle-shaped object in the center and a title "ABSOLUT ____". at the bottom. ABSOLUT MANHATTAN., for example, features an aerial photo of Manhattan where Central Park is the shape of an Absolut bottle.

Absolut Vodka is available in 7 different flavors together with plain Absolut Vodka:

• Absolut Peppar (The first flavored Absolut Vodka launched in 1986, chile pepper flavor)
• Absolut Citron (Lemon flavor launched in 1988)
• Absolut Kurant (Blackcurrant flavor launched in 1992)
• Absolut Mandrin (Orange and mandarin flavor mix launched in 1999)
• Absolut Vanilia (Vanilla flavor launched in 2003)
• Absolut Raspberri (Raspberry flavor launched in 2004)
• Absolut Apeach (Peach flavor launched in 2005).

Absolut Cut is the latest drink creation from Absolut. A Swedish spirit tonic, this unique pre-mix blends sparkling water and natural citrus flavours with Absolut Vodka.

External links

• Absolut.com — The official site for Absolut Vodka
• Absolutcut.com — The official site for Absolut CUT
• Absolutcut.co.au — The official site for the ABSOLUT CUTS Project - the largest open-source arts project in Australia.
• AbsolutAds.com — a site for collectors, with more than 1,000 images in the gallery.
• AbsolutCollectors.com — site for collectors of Absolut Vodka advertisements
• Absolut Ad — website with Absolut Vodka ads gallery

Sources

• reimersholms.com About L. O. Smith (V&S Group marketing site), in Swedish
• marknadsdomstolen.se On the history of names, in Swedish

This article is based on the article "Absolut Vodka" from Wikipedia - the free encyclopedia created and edited by online user community. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License. Here you find the list of authors of this article. The article can only edited within Wikipedia. Edit this article in Wikipedia.