Absolut Challenge the Classics

With Gin's popularity soaring and classic cocktails making a grand comeback, it was time for vodka to reclaim its spotlight. That's exactly what we set out to do with the Absolut - Challenge the Classics campaign, a project I led from strategy through to creative execution with the in-house team at Pernod Ricard Brasil.

Brimming with irony and humor, this campaign dared everyone to rethink their old cocktail favorites. Why settle for the same old recipes when you can jazz them up with the bold flavors of Absolut? Take, for instance, our playful twist on the Negroni, where we swapped Gin for Absolut Apeach, turning the traditional on its head in a deliciously daring way.

Our creative strategy was to subvert the classic cocktail's domain, traditionally dominated by gin and whiskey, by introducing innovative recipes that spotlight Absolut as the base. The tagline 'Desafie os Clássicos' (Challenge the Classics) captured Absolut's audacity and wit, pushing the envelope to reinvent drinks with a fresh burst of innovation and flavor.

The creative concept for our videos was bold—positioning well-loved cocktails as somewhat passé and provoking our audience to break away from the mundane with tastier Absolut versions. We chose a recipe campaign to tell this story, employing a language as innovative as the concept itself, mixing straightforward recipe tutorials with surreal visuals and narratives to elevate even the simplest of recipes.

Highlights of the campaign included the Absolut Apeach Negroni, Absolut Ginger Mule, and Absolut Extrakt Tonic, each reimagining beloved classics with a twist. The campaign thrived on social media, where our videos blended practical, step-by-step recipes with eye-catching and imaginative storytelling.

Our Instagram feed turned into a showcase, catching the eyes of those impacted by our ads and drawing them into a deeper engagement with the campaign's content and messages, sparking curiosity and interaction at every turn.