HEY STRANGER is a spoof on the Spaghetti-Western genre of films, created by Mark Girand (writer) and Chris Van Oosterhout (art director) and directed by feature film director Sam Raimi. It was the first in a series of commercials, all spoofing different genres,directorial styles, Hollywood stock plots and conventions, intended to look like a fake movie trailer. The campaign was completed with an ABSOLUT PICTURES logo, fake movie posters, movie listings for newspapers and magazines.
Philosophy
An ABSOLUT cinema campaign that translated the brand values, and the wit the brand is famous for, into a cinematic context. The campaign is know for commenting on the media in which it appears, tailoring the message to the medium. By creating fake movie trailers, ABSOLUT found a way to do just that, but also do it differently than other fake movie trailer commercials by not making the product or bottle integral to the story being told.
Problem
Magazine readership is low in some countries, particularly in Latin America. However, studies showed that the Absolut target frequently went to the movies (about twice a week). Problem also consisted of how to adapt the campaign to cinema.