‘Tis the season to be tipsy: Alcohol brands’ inclusive approach to WorldPride
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Alcohol brands’ inclusive approach to WorldPride
Marketing with a deeper purpose, one of UMM’s resident writers, Joseph Lucas has put together a round-up of this year’s best alcohol marketing campaigns for WorldPride 2023.
In case you missed it—WorldPride is heading to Sydney this February 2023. As parties begin to sell out and tourists flock to our golden sands, it’s important to understand what Pride Season means for many, and it’s more than just an excuse to drink.
From Archie Rose to Absolut, alcohol brands have long been affiliated with the LGBTQIA+ Community. It’s no secret that gays love to spend big on booze and alcohol brands have long reaped the benefits, but this year they set their sights on more than clearing stock off shelves. The festival’s theme calls for the LGBTQIA+ Community to ‘Gather. Dream. Amplify.’ The motto, developed in collaboration with the Indigenous Queer Community, invites us to “work together to create change and long-lasting legacy for all our communities,” according to Sydney World Pride’s official website.
Dressed in theme, alcohol sponsors have launched their Pride campaigns and limited edition liquor releases in plenty of time before Nicole Scherzinger makes her debut at Bondi Beach. Let’s take a look at some of the best alcohol brand marketing campaigns to come out of WorldPride 2023.
Image from Concrete Playground
ABSOLUT: FAMILY COMES FIRST, COCKTAILS SECOND
Ahead of Sydney WorldPride, Absolut revealed a revamp of their original Rainbow Vodka, the Absolut Rainbow 2.0, honouring 40 years of support for the Queer Community. In the campaign, Absolut raises a toast (most likely a vodka lime soda) to “the family you choose”, enlisting the help of one of Sydney’s most prominent found families.
Absolut’s decades-long affair with the gays began when they ran specific advertisements in magazines targeted to gay men back in 1981. Along with bar and event sponsorships from then on, Absolut wrapped the original Pride Flag around their iconic vodka bottle in 2008, birthing the Absolut Rainbow. Absolut’s long-running history with the Queer Community is forefronted in their new Pride campaign accompanied by an aim to unearth Sydney’s underground scene.
Xander Khoury, Sydney-based nightlife promoter and the father of the House of Silky, has been scouted by Absolut to curate a “museum” upstairs of The Alex pub in Alexandria. The display will showcase Sydney’s ties with Ballroom culture and the families that carried the legacy of Queer Ballroom Houses in Australia, fitting neatly inside the campaign’s ethos.
The museum immortalises Sydney’s rich history with underground found families and Khoury believes it will inspire the emerging generation of Queer kids to be interested in ballroom, describing it as a “place to feel safe [and] to be who you are”, in an interview for The Shout. The museum is a glittering achievement, spotlighting a community that is often shafted from the public eye or is nonexistent unless you are part of the city’s nightlife scene. The museum will be open to the public from February 22 to March 5–so you better go and learn your herstory.
Image from MANOFMANY
ARCHIE ROSE: BUSINESS MEETS PLEASURE MEETS GIN
WorldPride’s official gin partner Archie Rose has paired up with sexual wellness company LBDO to create a bottle of ‘Essensual Lube’ that goes complimentary with their new Peaches on Beaches and Harbour Cruisin’ Gin Cocktail Bottles. In the world of Archie Rose, ‘bottoms up’ might mean more than an upturned glass.
Archie Rose is a fairly new distillery, opening their doors in Rosebery in 2015. They were Mardi Gras’ official gin partner last year and have sustained that partnership for WorldPride. Although their ties with the Queer Community are newly founded, their presence at WorldPride will be well-lubricated, having a hand in over 50 events for the season.
According to LBDO founder Rachel Baker, their collaboration with the gin distiller will “help people enjoy the moment and elevate pleasure where possible every day,” surmising their approach at WorldPride as an opportunity to “listen, learn, protest and party”.
The campaign is fun, colourful, and doesn’t take itself too seriously. However, it is clear it aims to focus mainly on gay men. The double entendres that title the bottled gin cocktails inspire the fantasy of being scantily clad on the shoreline, as well as a slew of other implied activities (see: Cruising), that are historically male-focused. It’ll be interesting to determine whether their inclusivity expands beyond cis-men; the partnership involves a masterclass hosted by LBDO’s founder and celebrated sexologist, Meg Callander as well as other sex-positive events.
Image from The Shout
SQUEALING PIG: 9 LABELS OF LOVE HAS US SQUEALING ‘YAASSS’
After a stint as the official wine sponsor of the Australian Open, Squealing Pig’s new Summer of Love campaign shows the New Zealand-based winery wrapping “9 Labels of Love” around its signature rosé. Each label is designed to represent each letter of the LGBTQIA+ acronym accompanied by its matching flag and titled with an edited version of ‘This Little Piggy’; a “cheeky rhyme” as the website aptly describes it.
Similar to Archie Rose, Squealing Pig’s affiliation with the queer community is fairly new, and after being the official wine sponsor of Mardi Gras last year, they’ve proudly oinked equality since locking in their sponsorship at this year’s WorldPride.
Differing from Archie Rose, however, Squealing Pig’s focus on their campaign is to celebrate the full spectrum of love. As the Queer Community multiplies, Squealing Pig aims to amplify all members of the rainbow community, keeping in with the festival’s ethos. And although the ‘cheeky rhymes’ featured on the nine labels are a little cringe, the sentiment is more than welcomed.
Along with the new labels, Squealing Pig’s campaign includes a TV advertisement that features nine members of the LGBTQIA+ community, representing individually a different label. The ad is bold and colourful and aims to spotlight all aspects of love, expression and identity. The advertisement ran on the first day of the AO and will conclude on the final day of WorldPride.
EVEN AS WORLDPRIDE CONCLUDES, ALCOHOL BRANDS ARE RELUCTANT TO ROLL UP THE RAINBOW CARPET
When pride season rolls around, companies often flaunt their feathers, with aims to syphon sales from a community that holds some buying power in the market. Alcohol brands, however, aren’t rolling up the rainbow carpet as the calendar flips over to March. With their diverse and innovative marketing campaigns, booze brands encourage us to raise a glass (responsibly) and celebrate a season that means plenty for many.
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