So Svedka launched in Canada. There was a party held at Parts & Labour. It was there I learned of Svedka’s mascot. It is one of the most bizarre product mascots I’ve seen, a sexy fembot.

SVEDKA‟s futuristic branding is the platform on which SVEDKA_Grl, the world‟s first fun & flirtatious spokesbot, was born. She was designed in 2005 by Stan Winston, the mastermind and visual effects supervisor behind The Terminator and Jurassic Park.

As fembots go, the Svedka _Grl looks good. I’m just having a hard time trying to reconcile how this sells vodka.
The New York Times wrote a story that talks about the marketing plan.

Early this year, SVEDKA debuted its first television commercial in the US. The “Soul Train meets the year 2033” future/retro themed commercial was directed by Francis Lawrence (whose credits include Lady Gaga‟s “Bad Romance” video, Britney Spears‟ “Circus,” Justin Timberlake‟s “Rock Your Body” and Gwen Stefani‟s “What You Waiting For”) and features a cover of the Jackson 5 classic song “Dancing Machine.”

The bizarre commercial is burned into my head now. It was on repeat during the event. I guess a small blessing was that the accompanying music couldn’t be heard.

SVEDKA‟s “R U BOT OR NOT?” campaign will launch into Canada with an upcoming marketing campaign including online, print and various out of home mediums. Online will be an important media vehicle to drive home the brand message, through banner ads that link to SVEDKA‟s Facebook fan page, which is a destination point for all SVEDKA content, as well as a place where consumers can vote on the “BOTTEST” pictures.  The “R U BOT OR NOT?” message will invade bars across Canada with signature SVEDKA cocktails including the HOT_BOT, COSMO_BOT and CELEB_U_BOT. SVEDKA will also launch its successful Adult Playground 2033 event series, touting the BOTTEST bars in Toronto and Vancouver, celebrating each venue with a VIP party.

The Bottest picture eh. I can only imagine.  The vodka is nice enough and is available for $24.95/750ml bottle.