ABSOLUT SIN - a nostalgic exhibition about how the Swedish state once clinked glasses with the New York nightclub Studio 54.

ABSOLUT SIN

A Museum of Spirits show about how the country with the world’s most restrictive alcohol policy created the world’s most sought-after vodka.

It’s also a show about how the bottle was created.

On Sweden’s National Day, 6 June, the Museum of Spirits opens a nostalgic exhibition about how the Swedish state once clinked glasses with the New York nightclub Studio 54.

It tells the story of how a little vodka-belt country, Sweden, with the world’s most restrictive alcohol policy, created one of the world’s best-known brands – Absolut Vodka. The idea that Sweden should launch a bestselling export vodka in the late 1970s was not exactly on everyone’s lips, however. Exporting Swedish liquor was equated with exporting sin.

It is also an exhibition on the US in the 1980s, on innovative marketing, on artist Andy Warhol and on dresses made of gold. And last but not least – with the help of drawings, prototypes and memories of late nights in design studios and on airplanes – it tells the story of the bottle.

Absolut Sin
– The show at the Museum of Spirits is about Sweden and our restrictive alcohol policy in the 1970s, and also about how Absolut built its brand in the US and the world by borrowing images and works from artists and fashion designers, says Anna-Karin Svanberg, the show’s producer. Among the items exhibited is Anthony Ferrara’s 1991 dress made of some 4 kg(!) of gold with the name of the vodka on the front, as well as photos, films, quotations and advertisements from the period.

The show illuminates the huge amount of work done to create the brand’s innovative design profile. Some of the people who worked on the bottle’s shape and appearance have dug up their old sketches and prototypes, and thanks to them, visitors can retrace the winding road that led from the more or less goofy initial ideas (Viking jugs) to the sophisticated apothecary bottle that was to become a global success story.

The Swedish welfare state
Sweden in 1977: alcohol was considered one of the gravest threats to society. For five decades, the state had pursued a restrictive alcohol policy including rationing and controls. The tax on spirits was high, and constant media campaigns promoted moderation – at the very least, people should drink wine instead of spirits!

– When we found a quotation from the Deputy Speaker of the House of Parliament, Torsten Bengtson, the concept of the show really came together, says Anna-Karin Svanberg. A discussion was under way of whether Sweden should enter the fray along with the Russians, Poles and Finns and try to carve out a piece of the global market for vodka.

Should we be exporting sin? Is that really what you’re intending? Economically, it will be a disaster, and morally, it’s wrong. Do you really intend for Sweden to export its alcohol problems to the developing world? We should be exporting our alcohol policy instead.

The decision was made to export sin. The classic vodka Absolut Rent Brännvin from the state monopoly liquor producer Vin & Spritcentralen was given new contents and a new name – Absolut Vodka – and the crates began crossing the Atlantic.

Studio 54
In the 1980s, clear spirits were a fresh, promising trend in the USA. Against all odds, a Swedish vodka became a hit thanks to a unique bottle and innovative marketing. Absolut began selling at Studio 54, a nightclub whose leading luminary was Andy Warhol. “I love the bottle. I want to do something with it,” was reportedly Warhol’s answer when asked if he would paint the bottle. The result was “Absolut Warhol”, a painting that put the bottle front and centre – and ran as an ad in Warhol’s Interview Magazine. (The painting is on permanent display in the Museum of Spirits’ gallery, along with other works from the Absolut Art Collection that belong to the Museum).

A legendary design story

For the people designing the new bottle at the Carlsson & Broman advertising agency, it was a job like any other. An unusually fun project, sure, but nothing special. Luckily, though, some of them saved their drawings and prototypes, and thanks to them the Museum of Spirits can trace the long and winding road from their more or less goofy initial ideas to the sophisticated end product. The show includes unique materials that offer a window on the often madcap creative process. 

The Torsten Bengtson quotation is from Carl Hamilton’s 1994 book “Absolut: Biography of a Bottle”.

1.  Halvböj
Interior of a Systembolaget shop from a time when Swedish alcohol policy was the last thing you thought of when you thought of jet-setters on the other side of the Atlantic. A halvböj, or “half bend” was the nickname of Absolut Rent Brännvin, Absolut Vodka’s predecessor, a domestic bestseller that was always kept conveniently under the counter, a half bend away for the clerk. Photo: Museum of Spirits

2.  Gold dress
The gold dress that Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell wore to a fashion show – in which she then disappeared into the New York night (together with the real-life Mr Big). Marion Kahan, who was in charge of Absolut Vodka’s art and fashion collection, describes it as one of the worst moments of her life. The dress was returned in the wee hours of the night in a paper bag. Designer Anthony Ferrara created the dress for the Absolut Fashion campaign in 1990. It is made of genuine gold and weighs almost 4 kilos. 

Concept & photo: Daniel Mahdavian
Dress: Anthony Ferrara
Model: Sophia Göth
Copyright: ABSOLUT^®VODKA. ABSOLUT COUNTRY OF SWEDEN VODKA & LOGO, ABSOLUT, ABSOLUT BOTTLE DESIGN AND ABSOLUT CALLIGRAPHY ARE TRADEMARKS OWNED BY THE ABSOLUT COMPANY AB. 

3. Prototypes
The assignment was to develop a Swedish vodka for the American market. The Carlsson & Broman advertising agency worked out several different concepts, including Country of Sweden Vodka (wrapped in paper), Black Viking Vodka (in a wild west-style jug) and Damn Swede (featuring a dancing tramp).