40+ years of Allyship

In 1985, Michel Roux, president of Carillon Importers, enlisted Andy Warhol to paint an Absolut bottle. Warhol’s enthusiasm for the bottle’s design led to more collaborations with renowned artists, like Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf.

Andy Warhol was the first artist commissioned to create a campaign for Absolut, entitled “Absolut Warhol”. This ad became a 20th-century classic and is often referred to today as a masterstroke of modern marketing. Following the success of this campaign, Warhol recommended several young artists to create campaigns for Absolut to Roux. One such artist was Keith Haring, who initially made his name on the NYC streets and subway stations, decorating the empty advertising panels with chalk figures and clamoring people. Haring had an extremely distinctive style which shined brightly in his yellow and red piece selected for the “Absolut Haring” advertisement.

Since 1989, Absolut has consistently sponsored the GLAAD Media Awards, showcasing their enduring support to the LGBTQ+ community. The “Absolut GLAAD ” campaign in key markets reinforces this commitment, dating back to the Absolut advertising in the Advocate magazine in 1981.

In 1992, Absolut Spada was introduced, a campaign featuring the work of designer David Spada, who created the iconic Gay Pride rings. This was the first LGBT creative from Absolut.

Absolut Statehood is one of the most ambitious art projects and a campaign that combined two of the key elements of Absolut’s personality: the arts and the support of worthy causes. All proceeds were donated to the American Charity Design Industries Foundation for AIDS (Diffa) to support the research and fight the disease.

In 1995, Absolut Pink Umbrellas was launched as an environmental art installation, remembering those lost to AIDS and to raise funds. Each guest brought a $50 donation to support Diffa. Absolut sponsored a seven-city tour, starting in San Francisco. It celebrated lives, not in a traditional memorial way, but as a union of strength, thanks to corporate sponsorship and local support.

In 1999, Absolut showcased a LGBTQ ad in collaboration with Tom Ford who was then Gucci’s Design Director. The ad featured in American Vogue had a woman’s hand with an Absolut-shaped fingernail covering part of her face.

Absolut sponsored Tom of Finland’s clothing collection, Absolut Tom. Top fashion designers like Tom Ford and Jean-Paul Gaultier followed and began collaborating with Absolut in the early 2000’s.

In 2008, the first Absolut pride bottle was launched in collaboration with Gilbert Baker, the rainbow flag designer, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the traditional PRIDE flag. This was the first spirit bottle to wear the iconic flag, and since then, each Absolut rainbow limited edition bottle has paid tribute to the community.

In 2009, Absolut launched a naked bottle with no label and no logo to manifest the idea that no matter what’s on the outside, it’s the inside that matters, with the incentive to challenge labels and prejudice about sexual identities.

In 2017, the Kiss with Pride campaign marked the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act amendment, decriminalizing male homosexuality in England and Wales. Intimate photographs of same-sex kissers were at the heart of Absolut’s Kiss With Pride campaign to raise awareness of consensual same-sex activity still being illegal in 64 countries, with 7 imposing the death penalty.

Absolut has sponsored numerous major LGBTQ+ events in the US annually, from static sponsorships to in-venue sale promotions for; One Mighty Weekend, The Queer Lounge at Sundance, The Gay Games, The White Party Miami, Joining Hearts Atlanta, Ascension Fire Island, Night of 1000 gowns, and Mardi Gras.

One of our most important and timeless campaigns to date is the Absolut Love bottle. The bottle repurposed racist and anti-LGBTQIA+ signs collected from rallies around the world and their ink was reused to create a new bottle of love, produced in Åhus, Sweden and spread to the world.

Absolut Love Letters was a campaign that celebrated the power and stories of the LQBTQIA+ community, their allies, and friends and highlighted the importance of being a vocal supporter in 2020. The campaign aimed to demonstrate that hate is in the minority and love is louder.

Absolut Ally is a program designed to empower bars and nightclub staff to intervene in the best way when witnessing acts of discrimination against LGBTQIA+. As part of this initiative, Absolut has been collaborating with expert organizations and NGOs like Stonewall and Safe Bars to support the community and deliver adequate and culturally relevant trainings.