Absolut Rock

With the limited edition Absolut Rock launched in 2009, you know that bottle wrapped in leather and studs, we wanted to pay tribute to rock and roll in an Absolut way. Working closely with visionary photographer Danny Clinchand theAustralian rock band Wolfmother, an authentic story about the lifestyle behind the scenes, on the road and on stage of a rock and roll band beautifully unfolded, frame by frame.

An important part of creativity is freedom. And the restriction of any restrictions. Looking at Danny’s track record and creative expression of documenting the biggest rock artists of our time, we therefore tried to intervene as little as possible, giving him the space he needed to do his thing.

Or, as Danny himself put it; “Absolut has an impressive history of collaborating with well respected artists. Being part of that process has been very exciting. The coolest part of this initiative is that Absolut basically asked us to do what we normally do. Wolfmother were recording and performing, and I captured this with my camera. Absolut has always been at the forefront of artist collaborations and it really is amazing when no one has to compromise on ones art when doing a great advertising campaign.”

And we were thrilled about what came out! During a couple of days, Danny followed Wolfmother around L.A., shooting more than 4000 documentary photos and produced an exclusive director’s cut film, depicting his vision of rock and roll and showing his amazing images coming to life. To extend this story and intensify the experience, a selection of Danny’s best pictures was also presented as a gigantic (up to 240sqm) traveling photo exhibition touring through cities in Germany like Munich, Cologne and Hamburg, along with a downloadable audio guide and a printable map to tour the local sites at absolut.com.

“We really enjoyed being part of this initiative,” said Wolfmother’s singerAndrew Stockdale. Absolut introduced us to Danny Clinch, inspired us to collaborate and gave us the space to do our thing. The best results happen when artists are given the trust to do what they do best, and with that freedom Danny has captured an authentic day in the life of Wolfmother – recording in the Sunset Studio in L.A., during a gig and hanging out at the Roosevelt Hotel. This campaign invites people behind the scenes to experience a bit of the classic rock and roll dream”.

Telling the story behind the story in 2009 to consumers, bridging the physical and digital space just a couple of years after Facebook boomed, is a given today but was quite a big deal then. Looking back at this campaign, we are proud to see how three creative forces came together in the name of rock and roll, and made something worth remembering.