Absolut ad sparks social media debate

Absolut vodka has sparked controversy in South Korea after digitally altering an image of an anti-president protest in Seoul to resemble its bottle shape for a Facebook advertisement.

Absolut vodka has sparked controversy in South Korea after digitally altering an image of Seoul’s anti-president protest

The image shows a time-lapse photo of Gwanghwamun Square, downtown Seoul, during a candlelight vigil that led to the National Assembly‘s impeachment of the president.

The shape of the crowd has been adjusted to look like the brand’s bottle, and a statement reading ‘Absolut Korea: The future is yours to create.’ is positioned at the top of the image.

Koreans have taken to social media to express anger that the company has used ongoing political unrest as the backdrop for an advertisement.

According to Korea Herald, one commenter wrote: “If Absolut vodka had funded the vigils, this may seem like an appropriate message combining their image with a message about Koreans‘ will to move forward for a more democratic future. But this is just commercialising that photo and the current political climate.”

Others defended the advertisement, saying it reflected the brand’s marketing strategy and portrayed Korea’s democracy in a positive light.

“Absolut has long been creating ads combining the Absolut bottle silhouette with different countries’ images,” another commenter added. “This represents Korea as going through a peaceful revolution, and it fits well with the brand‘s direction. It’s excellent.”

Absolut has historically made country-specific advertisements visualising the shape of the vodka bottle, for example, adopting a picture of the Parthenon for Athens.

The Spirits Business has approached Absolut for comment.