Capitalism Knows No Bounds

By Scott Sayare

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Young Republicans across Greater Boston converged on the financial district last Thursday for an event, sponsored by Svedka vodka, designed to "Put the 'pub' back in Republican." Svedka has sponsored hundreds of politically themed cocktail parties across the country this year, capitalizing on the widespread political fervor surrounding the presidential race.

"We're all about putting our brand at the epicenter of pop culture," says Marina Hahn, chief marketing officer of Spirits Marque One, Svedka's parent company. "Politics is our playground this year."

For six weeks, Svedka has hosted events for the Young Democrats of Massachusetts, the LGBT group MassEquality and the Massachusetts Federation of Young Republicans (MFYR).

"We don't like bores and stick-in-the-muds," says Hahn, but otherwise, "everyone is fair game."

Last week, Svedka boozed up the Young Republicans—a decidedly subdued crowd of mostly 30-somethings—providing free signature drinks, including the "Dirty Delegate" and the "Cosmo-politician."

Richard Wheeler, a lawyer, elected member of Brookline Town Meeting and chairman of the MFYR, passed guests nametags as they filed into the bar. According to Wheeler, the MFYR has emerged from obscurity over the past decade, and now boasts 300 to 400 members statewide.

"I escaped the brainwashing. It's easy to be a liberal here," said Wheeler, a Republican in a state long-renowned for the Democratic party's dominance. "I twirl my mustache and drink the blood of little animals ... If that's the rep we get, we might as well enjoy it."

Steven Jens, an MIT-grad and long-time Young Republican, said that most of his friends are liberals. "I live in Cambridge," he said. "I politely excuse myself when politics come up."

Like Jens, advertisers have historically avoided politics, explains Susan Fournier, professor of marketing at Boston University.

"Most people have shied away from politics because it's political," she says. "It's a real leadership position they're taking." Svedka bucked this long-time industry trend with its current marketing campaign, but, Fournier adds, the brand is "coat-tailing" cultural trends and "jumping on 'what's hot.'" The 2008 presidential campaign has become a pop-culture phenomenon, ripe for exploitation. "They're really astute," she says.

Svedka launched its campaign to put a "Fembot in the White House" on Super Tuesday, when 24 states (including Massachusetts) held presidential primaries. On February 5th, they bought a full-page ad in the New York Times and threw election results-viewing parties in New York and Washington, D.C. Svedka has also released promotional materials, including $80 T-shirts sporting mock-political messages like "Help End Global Warming, Add More Ice," and "Make Cocktails, Not War." The campaign won Spirits Marque One a 2008 Silver Effie award for marketing efficacy.

On June 9th, the company ran another full-page ad in the New York Times offering Clinton, McCain and Obama a coupon for a personal supply of vodka for the remainder of the election season.

No word yet on whether anyone has redeemed it.