Great CGI commercial for Smirnoff. Created by JWT London, SFX by Framestore CFC, shot in New Zealand and Pinewood Studios in Elstree by Daniel Kleinman.

Pernod Ricard UK is the first advertising campaign for Absolut, because the beverage giant bought the vodka brand of Vin & Sprit last year.

The "protest" campaign, by TBWA, aims to show a world in which conflict can be resolved in a peaceful and joyful exchange.

It shows, activists and police in a mass pillow fight in a city street. It runs until April 2009, to coincide with the G20 summit in London in April.


Among other outdoor digital screens in London and Canary Wharf in London's subway platforms and online campaign on news sites like The Times, The Guardian, MSN and Yahoo.

Mark Hamilton, Head of Marketing for vodka from Pernod Ricard UK Campaign says "sets the tone” for further Absolut marketing activity planned for this year, which the company hopes will “create huge anticipation and excitement amongst consumers and our trade partners in the coming weeks and months ahead. "

Pernod Ricard bought bought Vin & Spirit, which is owned Absolut vodka for € 5.63 billion last March.

Hot Romanian Chicks singing about Vodka. Must see...

Mustang Vodka, LLC announced the new way it will be selling Silver Mustang Vodka. Starting March 17, 2009, Silver Mustang will be the first ultra-premium vodka in the history of the beverage industry to be available exclusively through the Internet. HR Superior, Inc., based in Chicago, IL, launched http://www.SPIRITS24H.com as the exclusive retailer for the U.S. market for this brand.

Silver Mustang -- made from the finest hand-selected organically grown grains, artesian water, no chemical additives, and distilled five times for exceptionally smooth taste -- captures both the exclusive quality of pure vodka and the living symbol of America's free spirit.

The composition of natural ingredients coupled with a unique recipe and innovative distilling techniques make for an unequaled 40% alc. ultra-premium product.

Silver Mustang is crafted in the remote region of eastern Poland, the heavily forested and pristine area free of industrious centers where agriculture and distilling methods have remained unchanged for centuries. Its quality has been recognized by the Beverage Tasting Institute. According to the BTI -- International Review of Spirits Award 2007, Silver Mustang comes "highly recommended" and is "... very smooth, polished, and flavorful, will make an excellent martini."

Image by Marco Veringa via Flickr

It says on the bottle to serve from a freezer
It goes to a syrupy but I don't know why?

It doesn't freeze due to the high alcohol content - alcohol's freezing point is much colder than domestic freezers can get.

Not all vodka's should be served from the freezer though. It can reduce the flavour in some flavoured vodka's - although you could try this if you WANT to reduce the strength of the spirit.

It's 40% alcohol, and alcohol doesn't freeze until -114 oC.

A freezer will only be at about -18 oC.

Entrepreneurs are entering into the spirit of Russia's presidential election. Businesses hope to cash in on the name of the eventual winner to sell products such as vodka. Dmitry Medvedev is the leading candidate and experts believe his brand-name will be as popular as Putin's.

Image via Wikipedia

Putinka vodka piggybacked on the cult-like popularity of Vladimir Putin to become one of Russia's top-selling brands of spirits.

For a new vodka named after Mr. Putin's presidential successor, Putinka is proving to be as tough an act to follow as Mr. Putin himself.

Medvedeff vodka, named after President Dmitry Medvedev, appeared in shops here in December, next to bottles of Putinka vodka and for the same price -- 150 rubles, or roughly $4, per half liter.

But, while Putinka, which hit the market in 2003, remains Russia's second-best-selling vodka, Medvedeff has yet to find a place among the top 20.

Mr. Putin left the presidency in May, accepting the more-junior position of prime minister, yet polls show he remains more popular than Mr. Medvedev and that his aura of absolute power hasn't waned.

The brand has annual sales of more than $500 million.

To stand out, experts say, a vodka maker needs a unique brand and needs to market it heavily.

Russia's Top Vodkas
1. Green Label (9%)
2. Putinka (5%)
3. Five Lakes (3%)
4. Soyuz-Viktan Harmony of Nature (3%)
5. Parlament (3%)

A vodka factory near Moscow confirms it distills the vodka but says other details -- such as production volumes and who owns the brand -- are "a secret."

TPG Kristall, the factory's owner, also refuses to identify the brand's owner.

TPG Kristall's president declined to comment for this article but told the daily Vedomosti that his company was making a small quantity of Medvedeff for a Moscow vodka maker to test the market.

"It has no chances," says Alexander Yeremenko, managing director of branding consultant BrandLab.

He says the fact that Mr. Medvedev's authority is so tentative means drinkers won't embrace the drink in the same way as they have Putinka.

Vinexim, owner of the Putinka brand, spent tens of millions of dollars promoting and advertising it in recent years.

He fears that Mr. Medvedev, in Russian minds, is too closely associated with the unfolding economic crisis that is likely to get worse.

By contrast, branding gurus and pollsters say Mr. Putin is associated with a period of rising prosperity when oil prices were high and real incomes here improved.

Mr. Kaufman says Mr. Putin's background as a spy is a good match for a drink that is at least 40% alcohol.

Brand gurus say the Medvedeff brand is also slightly confusing because it evokes images of bears -- medvedi in Russian -- as well as the president.

A spokesman for Mr. Putin has said that Mr. Putin has "an extraordinarily negative attitude" towards attempts to use his name for commercial purposes, but in the case of Putinka has no legal means to block it.