At a time when divisive forces are taking over the world, Pernod Ricard owned liquor brand Absolut is urging people to create a world that is free of biases. In its new India led global campaign titled ‘Born Colourless’, the brand features people across ethnicities, nationalities and geographies coming together as one. The spot highlights the deeply coloured opinions that exist in the world and leaves viewers with the message that for the world to become a happy and colourful place, it must first become colourless.
Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the campaign has been shot by three-time academy award winner Robert Richardson and directed by Brazilian director Pedro Becker. The ad spot features 31 Pernod Ricard employees from different nationalities and ethnicities together with real people who have challenged the biases and societal norms.
Noting that in today’s day and age campaigns without any point of view don’t cut ice with the younger generation, Kartik Mohindra, chief marketing officer, Pernod Ricard India said that their idea is to have a purpose driven brand strategy.
“Brand Absolut has always been associated with causes of inclusivity over a period of time. Globally, our aim is to promote inclusivity through our marketing. We were one of the first brands to stand up for LGBTQ community as well. The world can truly be a better place if we stop looking at each other through the lens of any bias including colour, religion, race or gender. The minute we start respecting the diversity of each other a lot of global discord will disappear. We used colour as a metaphor to convey this thought in this campaign," he said.
The campaign, targeted at consumers between 25 and 35 years of age, will be promoted across television, digital and social media platforms.
“The execution was driven by two key aspects. One, a sense of gritty realism in all the scenes, which helped make the individual stories and key characters authentic. Two, a sense of scale was needed for the settings, be it the European quarter, a square in London and New Delhi's Red Fort. Both aspects came together to deliver a universality that the idea and Absolut stands for," said Janmenjoy Mohanty, regional creative officer, Lowe Lintas.
Absolut has been highlighting inclusivity in its multiple campaigns including Equal Love. Absolut has activated a wide range of LGBT initiatives, including the first spirits bottle ever to wear the rainbow flag, which was made in collaboration with Gilbert Baker, the designer behind the original flag.
Joono Simon, founder and chief creative officer at advertising agency Brave New World said, "Absolut's intent here is entirely clear. If this is the beginning of more efforts from them to change the narrative and take an unapologetic stand against racism and discrimination, it should be welcomed. But it would be a travesty if this - or any such campaign - is only an ad that's only piggybacking on an appealing cause. The "woke generation" is smart in distinguishing who’s genuine and who’s simply paying lip-service to the cause."
