A toast to liberation: Stoli Vodka’s new label preaches artistic freedom

18 Jan 2023 --- Stoli Vodka has released a limited-edition bottle doused in bold, bright colors and messages of inclusivity. The bottle’s purpose is to encourage liberation in the alcohol space by “encouraging authentic artistic creation and creative exploration” through the label’s words of love, peace, equality and kindness. 

Stoli partnered with Butterfly Cannon to create the label. The design agency selected and commissioned Brooklyn-based graffiti artist Jason Naylor as the creative partner. The partnership’s goal was to incorporate Naylor’s signature style to “live life colorfully” with inclusive branding “in a way that didn’t feel preachy or overly worthy.” 

“In pursuit of a better world, we encourage creativity and self-expression. More than ever, it is essential to champion everyone’s right to equality, kindness, and most importantly, love and peace… The resulting art piece is a celebration of self-expression.” says Stoli. 

However, the company has not yet announced donating any proceeds to a relevant organization that ties in with the bottle’s theme. Previously, Stoli released a limited-edition bottle to benefit Ukraine donating to World Central Kitchen, a non-profit organization that provides fresh, nutritious meals to refugees fleeing Ukraine. 

Jason Naylor designs Stoli’s latest vodka bottle featuring bright and bold designs.Label liberation
Naylor is an award-winning artist, designer and creative director known for using colors in his visual arts. According to Stoli, The digitally printed shrink took extensive testing to capture Jason’s “trademark electric color palette.”

A surprise element of the bottle is that parts of the label glow in the dark, incorporating discoverable details in a glow-in-the-dark varnish for darker environments such as bars and house parties.

The limited-edition bottle is now widely available in the UK as well as in over 30 countries around the world. In addition to being available at leading supermarkets such as Tesco and Waitrose and numerous online drinks platforms, it was also presented at various music festivals and events, including London Cocktail Week and the Boiler Room Festival.

The company also introduced a Liberate Your Spirit Fizz Collection. The collection consists of a range of multicolored mules and fizz cocktails inspired by the company’s buzz-words: peace, love, kindness and equality. The company does not supply cocktail recipes but provides the recipes on its website. 

Consumer preference
Alcoholic beverage consumption is declining globally, with Innova Market Insights reporting a 4% year-over-year drop in launches between 2021 and 2022. 

Yet, 56.7% of global consumers that consume alcoholic beverages prefer them in bottles, and 22.84% prefer them in glass. The market researcher found that bottles (54%) are the leading packaging format among the alcoholic beverage launches tracked. Between 2021 and 2022, glass (53%) was the top packaging material among the products tracked. Stoli Vodka’s limited edition bottle comes with a glow-in-the-dark surprise. 

Alcohol packaging and label innovation 
Last year, Jägermeister used a thermochromic ink-enhanced label to reveal a prize code when stored at its ideal -18ºC temperature. Consumers put their received code into the Jägermeister website to reveal whether they have won a prize as a part of its “The Secret is Ice Cold” campaign. 

The temperature-sensitive back label was an extension of the company’s campaign, launched in December 2021. However, Jägermeister has been dabbling with thermochromatic labels since 2019. 

Absolut Vodka signed a contract with Ardagh Group to source glass from its upcoming partly hydrogen energy-fired glass furnace at Ardagh’s Limmared facility in Sweden. Once operational, it will reduce the CO2 emissions of Absolut’s glass bottles. 

Verallia, the world’s third-largest producer of glass containers for F&B, acquired 100% of the capital of Allied Glass, a glass packaging company in the spirits market. The procurement was valued at approximately £315 million (US$360 million) at enterprise value. Sun European Partners joined the acquisition as an affiliate of Allied Glass. 

Moreover, Bacardi is cutting 140 metric tons of single-use plastic annually by removing plastic pourers from its bottles in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, Spain and Portugal. The plastic Non-Refillable Fitment is commonplace throughout the spirits industry and is currently found in the neck of several of the company’s drink brands. 

By Sabine Waldeck 

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