How to Say No to Another Drink

by erica ~ March 9, 2009

Does this economy lead to excessive drinking? Do consumers know when to say “no” to another drink? These are the questions that Absolut Vodka is focusing on for their new campaign. Instead of sounding preachy and demanding by saying, ‘No, you shouldn’t do this’ or ‘No, you shouldn’t do that,’ they want to give people the tools to make their own decisions with a new methods to talk to their consumers in a relevant way.This campaign, called Recognize the Moment, focuses on “that moment” when one chooses to say yes or no to drinking. The promotions for this campaign include mostly online material such as a Facebook page, text messaging, and the Absolut website. These materials are intended to reinforce drinking in moderation. For example, users can send text messages to themselves, via the website, right before they head out the door for a night on the town to remind them to slow down or stop drinking. 

The campaign has been in development since 2006, Ms. Ryan said, as Porter Novelli worked to build support among Absolut employees, retailers and bartenders as well as consumers.

“It’s a nice effort that looks good on its face,” said George A. Hacker, director for the Alcohol Policies Project at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a group in Washington that has long sought to curb the promotion of beer, wine and liquor. “But it’s fluff when it comes to the real need for information on the potential down sides of alcohol consumption,” Mr. Hacker said. After the Text the Moment feature was described to Mr. Hacker, he said, laughing, that he would prefer that Absolut “program iPhones so you get an electric shock when you take that third drink - or better yet, have them program bartenders’ iPhones to shock them not to serve that third drink.”

The total budget for the campaign is estimated at less than $500,000, which might seem like an unrealistic amount to run a campaign but it works for Absolut’s pocket (and probably ours somehow). 

Erica Berkovich an Associate Account Executive at Mediashop PR.  She is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Corporate Communications at Baruch.