Vodka Ads Raise a Glass to Failure of Soviet Coup

Madison Avenue is already capitalizing on the collapsed coup.

Stolichnaya Russian Vodka spent $200,000 to place full-page newspaper ads that celebrate the failure of the coup in today’s editions of the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune.

The ads feature a news photo of a massive demonstration in Leningrad’s Palace Square in support of the constitutional government. “We’re prouder than ever to be Russian,” says the ad, which is signed “Stolichnaya Vodka.”

Executives of the U.S. importer of the vodka, Monsieur Henri Wines Ltd., say they realize that the ad could backfire.

“It’s possible the situation could change tomorrow,” said Gary Matthews, vice president of marketing for Stolichnaya. “But even if it does, we feel this captures the spirit of the people.”

For several years, Stolichnaya has carefully crafted its advertising image around upbeat events in Soviet politics. It ran ads that commemorated the Malta Summit in 1989 and the Washington Summit in 1990.

Stolichnaya marketing officials still smirk at the irony of the ad they placed one day before the Malta Summit, when President Bush and Mikhail S. Gorbachev were supposed to meet at sea.

The water was so rough that summit plans were hastily changed, even though the headline in the Stolichnaya ad had predicted something quite different: “Here’s to smooth sailing.”