US hip hop artists ditch Cognac for Moscato

America’s hip hop culture is ditching “excessive” Cognac and Champagne drinking in favour of a new wave of wine-flavoured vodka.

Campari America claims the days of jeroboams of Cognac and Champagne consumed in nightclubs by celebrity hip hop artists are coming to an end, as the “Moscato Movement” takes over.

Moscato sales in the US have rocketed by 33% in 2012, and now account for 6% of all wine sales in US retail chains, driven largely by the glorification of the grape variety in pop culture.

To take advantage of the “Moscato Movement”, Campari has launched a campaign focusing on the music genre to support the release of its Skyy Infusions Moscato Grape flavoured vodka, launched in the US in March.

The Skyy Infusions ‘Be Part of the Art’ campaign has launched this week in the US with a TV commercial featuring a collaboration between hip-hop artist Theophilus London, music video director Anthony Mandler, and artist Kadir Nelson.

The commercial, which is posted below, features a number of Nelson’s paintings that come to life as music from London’s ‘I Stand Alone’ track plays, inspiring onlookers to begin an impromptu dance party with Skyy Moscato cocktails in full flow.

It will run on major US TV channels including Bravo, ESPN, E! Network amongst others.

“The ‘Be Part of the Art’ campaign embodies the hip hop culture’s evolution as it moves away from the Cognac and Champagne fuelled days of excess towards a broader, all-encompassing influence on the trendsetters of today and tomorrow – what some are calling the Moscato Movement,” said Umberto Luchini, head of marketing at Skyy brand owner Campari America.

“Skyy Infusions Moscato Grape’s new marketing platform encompasses every aspect of the ‘Moscato Movement’, including art, music, design, fashion, and a delectable cocktail experience.”

Running alongside the commercial will be an interactive social media campaign inviting consumers to submit a Moscato Mosaic Masterpiece, which will hang in a giant store-front in New York City.

The campaign will also run across out-of-home and digital site takeovers throughout 2013.