ABSOLUT KICK-OFF is on p. 161 of the 6/4/98 issue of Stern magazine (German). This is the same ad that I previously reported as being a new ad on the inside front cover of The Sunday Review section of the Sunday, June 14, 1998 issue of the British newspaper, The Independent On Sunday. However, the Stern version is presented in a regular 8-1/2" x 11" size, the the oversized newspaper version.
This 1998 ad is a chart listing the 32 countries with national soccer teams entered in this month's World Cup '98. They are listed in 2 side-by-side columns of 16 teams each; a third column has blank boxes for soccer fans to list the 16 teams who advance on to the second round. Similar columns progress from left to right with blank boxes for the 8 teams advancing to the quarter-finals, then the 4 teams advancing to the semi-finals, then the 2 teams playing in the Finals, and the Champion. All done with black lines on white paper, the top and bottom of the first 5 columns are parallel lines forming the vertical sides of an Absolut bottle shape; then the parallel lines curve to form the neck and cap of the bottle. The Champion's name goes in the cap. Beneath the logo is written: KEEP SCORE WITH ABSOLUT. THERE IS NO PURER VODKA. TAKEN NEAT, ICE-COLD, IT'S THE PERFECT SHOT. The TBWA info is printed up the left margin.
The chart layout is similar to the NCAA Basketball Tournement chart that's printed in newspapers every March. It's printed on higher quality newspaper. Obviously, this is a time-sensitive ad that won't be re-printed again.
To the best of my knowledge, this is the first ad in Stern and the first ad in a periodical from Germany. |
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