Flavored Vodka in America

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Vodka in America...who the heck designs those advertisements?

There’s nothing quite like American marketing and the ridiculous advertisements that plaster magazine papers, billboards, and computer screens. The absurdity of American advertising increases when we discuss the billion dollar alcoholic beverage market in America. For my foodways project for my American Studies 2001 class, I decided to research the evolution of flavored vodka and malt beverages, like Smirnoff Ice and Smirnoff Raw Tea, by the Smirnoff company. It appeared to me that flavored alcoholic beverages like the ones Smirnoff produces largely target women. I wanted to look at how Smirnoff and companies like them target men and women differently through their sales of flavored vodka in the latter part of the 20th century and the different advertisements for unflavored vodka in the 1950s and 1960s in America.

When looking at vodka in the United States, it evolved substantially through the twentieth century with the production of flavored vodka. In my foodways project, I will look specifically at Smirnoff vodka and how it changed over time by looking at advertisements and commercials as well as the marketing within them.

What started as a beverage primarily targeted at white men, flipped in the 1990s when flavored vodka rose in popularity. After this, flavored vodka targeted women with their advertisements and it gained attention from female buyers, especially young female adults in the workforce.

I picked Smirnoff because I felt like it appealed to a diverse age group since it was inexpensive but still a decent quality. However, Smirnoff is not so inexpensive that the price alone targets the age group. I figured a cheaper vodka would limit the target age group and provide me with less research. Smirnoff is a well-established vodka company so I felt that I would find ample advertisements and be able to provide a solid argument and show evidence for my findings in this project.

I look forward to hearing other thoughts on my project and I hope you enjoy my research from this semester!

-LucyGordon Smith, University of Virginia

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Amber Rose's Smirnoff Commercial

Smirnoff Fluffed Marshmallow and Whipped Cream flavored vodkas + Amber Rose = the ultimate combination. Check out the new commercial!

Amber Rose’s Smirnoff Commercial for the Fluffed Marshmallow and Whipped Cream flavors of vodka shows the marketing towards a largely young female demographic that expanded the vodka market in America over the past few decades. The alcohol industry introduced new products and production methods to expand the [vodka] category’s popularity. Research suggests that the flavored alcoholic beverages are typically more popular with underage drinkers, particularly teenage girls, and that the industry uses marketing practices that appear to target youth (Mosher and Johnsson).

This commercial is split up into two parts. It begins with the marshmallow vodka and then switches to the whipped cream flavor. In the beginning of this commercial, Amber Rose appears. She is wearing heavy make up and that includes a blue smokey eye and tightly fitted white ball gown. This beginning part seems like Smirnoff wants to target a younger age than the whipped cream buyers because of how Amber Rose dresses. It seems like a vodka’s approach to a princess movie, like Cinderella inspired vodka. Amber Rose looks like a more seductive and new age example of a Disney Princess. It’s reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty or Cinderella as a vodka advertisement.

The commercial then switches to the Whipped Cream part. Amber Rose appears in a private jet with manicurists as well as handsome men waiting on her while she lounges in a white robe and stilettos. Next she’s in a gold bejeweled suit in a room with crystal chandeliers that resembles a Great Gatsby meets Las Vegas inspired room. The glitz and glamour of this room seems to target college aged women interested in the glamour of a Las Vegas casino met with the budget of a college bank account.

Towards the end of the commercial, Amber Rose addresses the camera and the audience,“Either way, vodka never felt this good.” implying that many other forms of vodka, like the traditional unflavored vodka a teenage girl might find in her parents liquor cabinet, do not taste as good as a whipped cream flavored vodka. Perhaps, the “Vodka never felt this good” line means that Smirnoff is a step up from brands like Aristocrat and Burnett’s that college age women are used to drinking. It could mean their hangovers are less severe or the action of drinking a better quality liquor, in fact does feel better for young adults. This advertisement is the prototypical example of marketing towards a young demographic that’s largely female in America.

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Smirnoff - Tea Party

Its all about the quallity.

This video exemplifies Smirnoff’s evolution of vodka and the malt beverages, like Smirnoff Ice and Smirnoff Raw Tea, designed for women.

This advertisement, “Tea Party” satirizes New England wealth by featuring actors as wealthy, preppy young adults rapping poorly as the fake band Prep Unit (or P-Unit, for short). The song references White Anglo-Saxon Protestant culture in America, however, it is thinly veiled black minstrelsy at some points. Additionally, this commercial sends the message that wealth can only be attained through social constructs of white high brow culture and privilege along with New England geography and Ivy League education.

Similar to the concept of a cake walk on plantations in the South, this video satirizes white people’s inability to dance and rap while showing its theft of black culture. For example, when the women in the video grind on the men in the video, it is comical because the women still appear proper and they are dressed conservatively; at one point, they are wearing a polo shirt with a sweater over their shoulders and another time, they are wearing a one piece swimsuit while grinding. However, this is also an example of black minstrelsy in modern white culture. Grinding is part of white culture through the theft of black culture and dance. This shows the videos tie to black minstrelsy Additionally, I mentioned the theft of the rap style music. At 2:52 in the video, the men attempt rapping. There is a close up on their faces and bodies while dancing, similar to man rap music videos where the artist stands and raps with people behind them. Additionally, at the end of the video, one of the white men kisses the large necklace he wears in the video, just like in rap music videos. 

The repeated message in the advertisement of “my tea in the parlor makes the ladies holler” sends the message to viewers that the malt beverage, Raw Tea, is a women’s drink and if it appears at social gatherings, women will be quite excited. This whole video is, quite literally, a way for men to seduce women through alcoholic beverages, just another example of Smirnoff’s marketing towards women.

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These print advertisements are an example of the evolution of Smirnoff flavored vodka. These three vodka advertisements, all by the same company, are extremely different.

The top advertisement in this trio is from the 1960s. It sells unflavored vodka but recommends drinking it as a screwdriver. There is a woman seductively depicted in a form fitting red dress with a slit by the legs wearing red high heels. She carries a drink tray filled with screwdrivers and a bottle of Smirnoff vodka. All of this sends the message to heterosexual patriarchal men that buying Smirnoff vodka will bring them a beautiful woman with a curvy silhouette to tend to their every need. This advertisement also plays on the Adam and Eve story from the Old Testament of the Bible. Eve tempted Adam with the apple, yet this advertisement reads “Who made the orange more tempting than the apple?” People who either read the Bible or have knowledge of Christianity will understand that reference to the fall of man from the Old Testament in the bible. Thus, Smirnoff encourages men with their product that Smirnoff vodka is worth “man’s fall” and that the woman with Smirnoff is superior to the original woman, Eve.

The middle advertisement of the heterosexual couple in a bed together tries to sell an unflavored vodka to contemporary audiences. Not much has changed from the 1960s to the present day. It is still geared largely towards straight men and it uses sex and women to sell the product. There are very few colors in this advertisement. There’s a blurry lamp in the middle right of the advertisement. The wood on the walls is the same color and grain as the wood on the table with the Smirnoff vodka bottle on it. The sheets are a neutral gray. As viewers, our attention immediately goes towards a couple in bed. They are an attractive white couple who are both in excellent physical shape and clearly interested in the physical attraction between them. At the bottom left of the advertisement, it reads “Pure Smirnoff, the difference is clear.” What a subtle message, if one drinks Smirnoff vodka, they will also have amazing sex with an attractive partner .

Lastly, the bottom advertisement is a recent Smirnoff Lime campaign. Similar to the first advertisement, it gives the consumer and idea of how to drink it. This time Smirnoff suggests adding it to a Cola for a ‘Lime and Cola.’ Marketed as a fun drink, this advertisement reads ‘playful’ with an attractive white woman wearing a green swimsuit laying on what appears to be a .table like surface. She is the only person in the advertisement so naturally this targets other women, specifically, young and white. Coming full circle in the idea that this beverage is essential for being both attractive and having fun.

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Introducing New Smirnoff Wild Honey Flavored Vodka

Introducing the newest flavor from Smirnoff -- Wild Honey. Pour your perfect night.

Between the wiping off the bees from the bottle with a high five following to the dancing in the club, this is a female targeted product. At the five second mark in this commercials, barn doors open and the two women walk through the door, throwing off the bee mask they previously had on. Somehow, underneath their beekeeping suits, they have on short, cocktail party dresses. The barn transforms into an elaborate party.

At the 10 second mark, one of the actors says “Let’s get wild, honey.” Language like this sends the message to consumers that this drink will provide a wild night for them and ample positive memories from a party. Similar to the Cinna-Sugar commercial, these both show women having fun with their friends and enjoying the night. Who doesn’t want a fun night with friends?

Smirnoff’s “your perfect night” campaign with recent flavored vodka makes consumers think that they need Smirnoff to have fun. Commercials like the Wild Honey commercial show people a little older than the target market enjoying a fun party with their peers. This sends the perfect message to consumers that this look and this lifestyle is something they should aspire to, even if it is absurdly unrealistic. 

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Introducing New Smirnoff Cinna-Sugar Twist Flavored Vodka

Introducing the newest flavor from Smirnoff -- Cinna-Sugar Twist. Pour your perfect night.

Sometimes, Smirnoff makes it too easy, this commercial is one of those examples. This commercial is 15 seconds long but packed with not so subtle messages about Smirnoff vodka bringing out your inner sex goddess and party animal.

It begins with three women who are chefs, making churros in an industrial kitchen. The commercial starts with women in a domestic space, a kitchen. They are also in white chef uniforms and white is a color traditionally tied with purity and womanhood in American culture. At the 3 second mark, one of the women licks cinnamon sugar off of her fingers and the viewer sees perfectly manicured nails, another sign of femininity and marketing in this commercial as well as a perfect smokey eye for her eye make up. 

At the 6 second mark, the same woman glides into an elaborate ballroom in a sequined dress carrying a trey with the bottle and a variation of a martini on it. Strings of pearls hang on her neck and confetti pours from the ceiling at a party with many people dancing. The only men who appear in this commercial are outlines of men dancing with women in the last few seconds of the commercial.

The catchphrase from this commercial is “for your perfect night.” which targets women who enjoy going to bars with their friends as a special activity. The lack of men in the commercial shows that this a stereotypical “Ladies Night” drink and that only this drink will fulfill the “Sex and the City” inspired night with friends.

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What’ll you have?

Did you know that...

In 2011, Americans bought:

62.9m cases of vodka

47.7m cases of whiskey

24.7m cases of rum

11.9m cases of tequila

10.7m cases of gin

Source: Nasaw, BBC Article.

Who would have guessed that vodka was the most popular beverage?

It’s interesting to look at these numbers and figure out which ones are the most popular. I’m also not surprised because of the huge variety of vodkas. Due to flavored vodkas visibility, of course there are more options for this and thus more people buying it. While whiskey has many variations, it pales in comparison to the numerous vodkas on the market.

When looking at the fact that there are more women than men in the United States, it makes sense to target women with vodka advertisements. It’s an easy way to increase sales.

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Why are there so many brands of vodka on sale? - BBC News

Most drinkers cannot tell the difference between different brands of vodka, so why are the shelves so crowded with this colourless, flavourless spirit?

I included this article because it helped me understand the alcohol market in contemporary times. I now realize, thanks to this article, that there are numerous decisions companies have to make and it makes sense due to numerous regulations on alcohol distilleries. 

“In the US, by law, classic vodka is near flavourless. US regulations require that vodka produced in the US be "neutral" and be sold "without distinctive character, aroma, taste or colour". Vodkas with added flavouring such as vanilla or raspberry are treated differently.” (Nasaw). There are fewer regulations on those liquors and thus easier to produce, which factors into why there are so many varieties of flavored vodka. It is easy to produce. There isn’t a warehouse, with barrels full of the product like a whiskey or a rum, and vodka is one of the most popular spirits. There is a tsunami of economic and business reasons contributing to those numbers. (Nasaw).

While some people who are not vodka experts may not realize the subtleties between different brands and distilling methods, high shelf vodkas do taste different and are worth the extra money. “Spirits experts say that in fact, drunk neat and at room temperature, premium vodkas do offer a variety of subtle variations in flavour, sweetness, mouth feel and weight.” (Nasaw). Masking the flavor of a cheaper brand with various flavors makes sense and it is actually a brilliant business model for alcohol companies.

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Even as early as 1967, Smirnoff started campaigning for more sales from female consumers, as evident from the Zsa Zsa Gabor advertisement. The top advertisement in this post is an example of an early female targeted post from a Smirnoff advertising campaign in 1967. The first advertisement is not for flavored vodka, just plain Smirnoff vodka because it was not until the 1980s when flavored alcoholic beverages gained popularity in the United States (Mosher and Johnsson). It shows glamourous actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor dressed in fancy evening type attire. Her glass is clear, it looks like there is either only vodka in it or vodka and a clear mixer like water or soda water. However, the write up below the advertisement recommended mixing it as a Moscow Mule, Blood Mary, or as a Screwdriver, all drinks that heavily mask the taste of vodka., implying that women should mix their alcohol with a heavily flavored mixer. 

The second advertisement is clearly marketed towards women, specifically young women. This sells a low calorie but sweetly flavored alcoholic beverage. It reads light or reduced calorie three different places on the advertisement, showing women that they can still indulge in a low calorie alcoholic beverage as an option. The advertisement is predominantly pink, it looks like it could be a part of the line “Barbie Goes to College.” Furthermore, even the light writing on the bottle is in light pink cursive. It even says low calories and it has the fruit flavors. “New Smirnoff Sorbet Light. The refreshing taste of sorbet now comes in a bottle,” implying that women no longer need the traditional sorbet to satiate their sweet tooth desires.

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I wish I could travel back in time and sit in on meetings in the Smirnoff corporate office for these advertisements. Not only does the top advertisement show a man drinking vodka straight from the bottle but he already has five prepared and delicious looking drinks in front of him. The bottom advertisement looks like a James Bond film with Smirnoff Sours instead of a martini. I felt like these advertisement captured the male versus female advertisement perfectly, which is why I finished my project with these two advertisements. 

The top advertisement, which is from 1957, shows the contrast between the advertising for men versus the advertising for women. They are the exact same unflavored vodka, however, for men, it’s the perfect liquor to add to your favorite drinks and not change the taste. The company targets the flavorless liquor as a easy way to drink under the radar, “it’s flavorless, add it to ginger ale and it tastes like ginger ale!” This could be an easy way for a man to get through his 9-5 work day or an easy way to drink at the dinner table without his family noticing. It seems like an easy way to imbibe without getting caught.

Conversely, the women’s advertisement is about visibility and making vodka applicable to their sweet tooth. The bottom advertisement contrasts the flavorless men’s drink with a recipe for women. Smirnoff wants this liquor to be the “Woman’s Taste.” It even says “If you like fruit drinks, as most women do, you’ll find the Smirnoff sour something special.” even though this same vodka attracted men because it’s flavorless, yet women need it to be sweet to drink. Can’t women add it to orange juice, the same way men did? Best of all, this advertisement comes complete with a recipe! How else would women be able to make a drink in their domestic space? Thank goodness Smirnoff gave them a recipe for their cocktail!

These are two different advertisements, for the same product, an unflavored Smirnoff Vodka around the 1960s. It’s reminiscent of a conservative newspaper and liberal newspaper reporting on the same event, yet they have completely different headlines and seem like a completely different product. How can the same company target male and female adult audiences so differently for the same product? That is American Culture and American Business.

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Works Cited

1. Bush, Irving T. “Vodka, Chianti, and Icewater.” The North American Review, vol. 225, no. 844, 1928, pp. 649–656. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25110506.

2. Herrold, Melinda. “Which Truth? Cultural Politics and Vodka in Rural Russia.” Geographical Review, vol. 91, no. 1/2, 2001, pp. 295–303. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3250830.

3. Mosher, James F., and Diane Johnsson. “Flavored Alcoholic Beverages: An International Marketing Campaign That Targets Youth.” Journal of Public Health Policy, vol. 26, no. 3, 2005, pp. 326–342. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4125156.

4. Nasaw, Daniel. “Why Are There So Many Brands of Vodka for Sale?” BBC. 8 June 2012. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18360315.

5. Smirnoff Sorbet Advertisement. https://www.coloribus.com/adsarchive/prints/smirnoff-vodka-smirnoff-sorbet-light-raspberry-pomegranate-18673055.

5. Zsa ZSa Gabor Advertisement.  http://www.adclassix.com/ads/67smirnoffzsazsa.htm Date Accessed 1 November 2016.