Absolut Vodka Goes Green with Life Earth Films

Absolut is pushing its green consciousness again, following up its 'Absolut World' campaign.

Absolut Vodka is stepping into the global warming issue in a very public way by prodding interest in ecological documentaries from the Live Earth Film Series.

The spirits brand launches its Absolut Global Cooling campaign by screening five Live Earth short subjects at the Sundance Film Festival. The films will be shown at the Absolut Live Earth Green Screen Lounge from Jan. 18 to Jan. 24. They’ll also be accessible online at http://www.liveearth.org/films.php and at http://www.absolut.com/GlobalCooling.

The tour will continue on to similar venues over the next year, including the annual Tribeca Film Festival in New York, the Miami Film Festival and festivals in Chicago and Boston.

The company will build consumer awareness for the program through P-O-P ads. The initiative is an extension of the consciousness Absolut sought to project in its In an Absolut World ad campaign.

The pro-ecology profile it’s pushing expresses the corporate perspective of parent company V&S Group.

“It’s part of our Swedish DNA, so to speak. We’re very socially aware and socially conscious,” said Absolut spokeswoman Sarah Bessette.

Absolut will soon be adding registration codes to its bottles, and donating $1 for each code registered on its Web site from Absolut, Absolut Citron or Absolute Mandarin, according to Bessette. In a related effort, Absolut cocktails will be served in bars and nightclubs will come with “cooling cards” that will facilitate donations via text messaging.

Absolut Global Cooling is supporting three ecology charities: the Environmental Media Association, the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation and the Ocean Foundation.

The company is developing stylish, reusable tote bags with the EMA. It’s planting fruit trees with the Fruit Tree foundation in metro areas stricken by natural disaster, and planting sea grass near major urban areas with the Ocean Foundation.