Absolutly

One could argue what separates bad vodka from good vodka from great vodka is how little it tastes. Not how it tastes - but how incapable it is of being tasted.

Sort of like pure spring water with a buzz.

Like most things, decisions in this category are a lot more cerebral than that. There's badge equity. More often than most of us care to admit, we tend to select (the bran) that we think matches our personality. Do you want to be seen as pretentious? A trendoid? A thug? A jetsetter? One of the cool kids?

Absolut has had a good run for a number of years, largely because it taps into culture and leverages whatever is hot or interesting or topic du jour in its (predominately print) advertising. To launch its line of flavored vodkas, they got a bit more literal - perhaps, rightly so - showing the fruit from which it derived its essence. Less artsy or interesting, but equally effective from a consumer perspective.

What's great from a brand strategy standpoint is the marriage between cultural context and the product, itself. The bottle always maintains its position center stage, but the stuff that's relevant and engaging for consumers - those insights that often get diluted beyond the point of comprehension or stripped entirely from the execution - aren't diminished at all. It's a perfect marriage.

There must be people who collect these ads. I know there's a coffee table book. I've seen t-shirts that riff off the campaign concept, which is as big a compliment as any.

But, nothing particularly special about the bottle itself - other than a nice sleek design, badge equity and good drinkability, available in a variety of flavors. Until now.

A collector's bottle? Of vodka? Based on something other than how long it aged? Brilliant.

Truth be told no one wants a bottle that says Pear or Citron sitting on his or her shelf. Certainly not an empty one. Regardless of whether you like the flavor and the brand, unless you're a college kid using it to collect pennies (possible), there's not much collector-worthy about it.

But Brooklyn IS. And who better than Spike Lee to give Absolut a little street cred? I love the detail (words on the stoop steps), personal influence (# of Spike's childhood apartment), flavor tie (apple...as in BIG apple) and the charitable connection (donation to Habitat for Humanity) doesn't hurt either.

Using a spoken word artist to promote the new flavor? Absolutly ON STRATEGY.