Mollie Leon
Professor Marcus Hamilton
GWRTC 103
5 October 2011
The “Absolut” Man
How convenient would life be if everything you ever wanted could be delivered right to your door? Or all you had to do was assemble a few pieces together and the perfect man would become yours? You can find advertisements all over the place. Each is designed specifically for a target market in which they are trying to reach. And of course the goal is to sell their product. The advertising business is a huge industry where the advertisers study various ways to attract people’s attention. The media hooks our attention through pictures, slogans, and hidden messages, which appeal to a wide variety of different people. In advertising, the name of the product is often the only way to distinguish it from other comparable goods. Most people have preferred vodka they will always drink and have become faithful to over time. The consumer can buy any type of alcohol at a bar but this ad is trying to state that Absolut Vodka is special and will get them a perfect man instead of just a rough morning the next day.
Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, which is produced in Sweden. It is one of the biggest vodka brands in the world and is sold in 126 countries. Absolut has achieved its renowned reputation through its interesting and bold advertising campaign. The ads are all humorous and clever deviations of the same principle. "In An Absolut World" was a crafty campaign where they created a variety of situations of what the target audience would consider an "Absolut" realm. While the text is straightforward and simple, it sends an apparent message that anything can happen when you drink this vodka.
Girls always picture a fairytale ending just like the ones in Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. They figure that when they will eventually end up with the guy of their dreams. In reality, not all women find that “perfect” man; but the article gives the impression that you can put together the perfect guy by just following a guideline in a manual and by drinking this Absolut vodka. The symbol of Mars male on the box helps support the heterosexuality again and the yearning for that ideal man. All the pieces of this man create the perfect guy of every girls dreams and that is what Absolut are trying to promote and sell on.
A perfect man, according to Absolut, is supposed to be sophisticated, to buy flowers “just because it’s Wednesday,” and to be successful and work as a professional. The perfect man also has to have a unique hobby such as playing the guitar which makes him well-rounded and pleasing to the average woman. His build has to be the stereotypical six pack abs with a strong and incredible body figure that women adore. Absolut believes that all of these qualities are what women look for in men, but I believe everyone has their own opinion of the “perfect man.” The faultlessness of a man is more superficial and doesn’t touch upon his intellect as being a prospect for a woman.
This ad creates a false notion that virtually anything can happen when you drink their vodka. They feed the impression that if you drink their vodka, you can get a man or even be a man like the “perfect” man that is getting put together. Everyone looks for something different in a person. Some want a caring and loving man, while others want a crazy rock star. But in this ad, it seems like the woman wants it all; she wants the combination of an “Absolut” man. Absolut used their slogan that goes with their product and applied it to a completely different situation with a man. They attempt to show how much better life gets when you drink their vodka. The impression this ad gives is that the woman has the power to put him together herself; if they can’t find what they are looking in a man while drinking they certainly can make it themselves instead. With the man coming in a shipped box, insinuating that she didn’t even have to leave her apartment to get it proves that she lives in the “Absolut world” that they are trying to promote. If all you have to do is order and assemble that perfect man you are looking for, all package carriers would be working nonstop. In short, they promote drinking to find the man of your dreams, even if he isn’t real.
In reality this perfect and well-rounded man would not exist, so most women just look for a few key important qualities in men to satisfy them. The body parts in this ad are separated through different personalities and traits of what most women would consider the perfect man. The woman sitting on the floor with her shoes off shows that she is eagerly working hard to put this man together, which comes across as somewhat desperate. I find it desperate because she has resorted to this vodka to help find that perfect man when in fact this “perfect man” may not be perfect for her. I also find it desperate that you need to be drinking to find this perfect man. Does that mean that the alcohol is blinding your judgment? Maybe this man is only perfect when you are drunk but in the morning he doesn’t come across as so faultless anymore and you are left with a regretful night. I believe this ad in a sense mocks women saying we can’t have fun and find that perfect man so we need to drink our life away just to be happy and find that man. I also reason that finding a man can be a touchy subject to a large portion of women still in search for “the one” and this ad may lose such an audience based off its rhetorical technique.
Outside of the package and the pieces of the male, many other aspects of this ad stick out. The small dog to the right of the package appears to be closely watching the woman put the pieces of the man together. It looks perplexed and afraid and isn’t chewing or sniffing the pieces as most dogs like that would do. That denotes the puzzlement and uncertainty the dog is in seeing a man’s body in this structure with the multiple pieces signifying the different traits and personalities. The furniture and art help signify the target market in which Absolut vodka is trying to reach. The couch and dresser are simplistic as well as the whole overall mood of the room. I believe they do this to appeal not just to the upper-class, but to everyone saying that you don’t have to be wealthy to consume this vodka. This ad obviously appeals more to woman as it appeals to pathos. Through the clothing choice of the woman, the long old skirt and collared shirt, this ad shows that you don’t have to be the typical social party animal to achieve this “Absolut world,” you can be the average woman just looking for “the one.” Women don’t have to dress or have the same personality as the woman in the ad; they can be anyone.
The reason this advertisement stood out and appealed to me is because it didn’t use just words to get across its point, even if I didn’t completely agree with it. With the simple use of “In an Absolut world,” they depict exactly what the picture is trying to prove. The straightforward but witty motto is a match to the name of the vodka. The goal of the advertising company was to show that with a simple customary thing such as drinking, you can too live in this “Absolut” world. Everyone has flaws but maybe that’s the reason why they are promoting to drink their vodka. So instead of maybe finding the perfect man, some of those flaws just disappear and you reach the perceived Absolut world when in fact you have just had too much to drink. If drinking Absolut vodka can create or find the perfect man, then every woman in American would be one big drunk. Sadly we don’t live in this enchanted or “Absolut” world. We live in a world where you can’t always get what you want. This ad is smart and witty with its slogan and leaves women marveling that maybe other things besides finding the perfect man can happen while drinking Absolut vodka. They want you to believe that Absolut vodka creates a much better world than reality and that virtually anything can happen.