Absolut Civil Love | A Vodka Manufacturer’s Gift To Inter-Religion Marriage in Lebanon
Lebanon is a country that is still facing the ramification of its 15-year long civil war between Muslim and Christian citizens. To this date, civil marriage is not a civil right in Lebanon. It is a country that is divided into 18 religious sects that impose unjust boundaries on the phenomenon of Love. In a bid to tackle this problem, Absolut launched a campaign called Absolut Civil Love.
The premium vodka manufacturer partnered with John Doe PR and TAG Media Group to bring the campaign into existence. To kick off the message of free and equal Love, Absolut hosted an exhibition on Civil Love. The second phase of the campaign manifested itself in the form of declarations on outdoor, digital, social, and radio channels.
However, in a bid to bring about concrete and measurable change, Absolut took the campaign’s impact radius up a notch by creating the Civil Love boat. It is illegal to officiate inter-faith union on Lebanese soil. However, the Civil Love boat provided an alternative for couples that had no other option but to spend huge amounts of money and wed abroad. 12 miles off the coast of Lebanon, the Civil Love boat brought the possibility of civil marriage as close as possible to the citizens of the country. After the boat set sail for the first time, the Civil Love campaign was able to provide 100s of couples the ability to marry each other close to home. The first-of-its-kind campaign resulted in massive outreach on social media platforms. Civil Love garnered more than 30 million views and impressions online and witnessed an engagement of around 3 million. Furthermore, the campaign also paved the way for government intervention and discourse. Owing to the impact created by Absolut’s Civil Love campaign, Lebanon’s new interior minister rekindled the dialogue on making civil marriage a civil right.
We believe that this campaign paved the way for an increment in humanitarian standards in Lebanon. The initiative not only kicked off a much-needed dialogue against religious discrimination, but it also created real-world change.
Credits
Brand: Absolut
Campaign: Absolut Civil Love
Advertising Agency: Interesting Times, Beirut, Lebanon
Creative Director: Mo Alghossein, Jimmy Francis
Associate Creative Director: Rita Harbie
Art Director: Carl Kaed
Strategic Director: Ashraf Mansour
Account Manager: Sara Samad
Operations Director: Lara Safar
Web Developer: Ali Aladdine
Junior Account Executive: Farah Kabbani
CEO: Wassim Bassil
Production: Fouad Abi Aad, Leon Terzian / Smarthub
Film Directors: Corine Shawi, Halim Sabbagh
Tags:
Absolut Civil Love, Lebanon, Alcoholic Drinks, Interesting Times, Vodka, Digital Campaign, Civil Love
