Smirnoff Vodka capitalized on the political drama that has caught America by storm by coming out with an advertisement which pokes fun at Trump, Mashable reported. The vodka maker - a brand that nowadays belongs to the British company Diageo but was originally started in Russia back in 1864 by Piotr Arseneevich Smirnov, who later on fled the country during the Russian Revolution - placed a big advertisement at a train station stating that, although Smirnoff is made in America, the company would be happy to talk about its ties to Russia under oath.
The marketing campaign cleverly exploited the regional origins of vodka and the ongoing FBI investigation of the Trump campaign ’s links with Russia.
Russian ties
Allegedly, at least three members of the Trump campaign had contacts with Russian officials. They are former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. President Donald Trump, however, insisted that Russia did not interfere in the 2016 U.S. election.
The situation boils down to Trump’s word versus former FBI Director James Comey, who has already told his truth about the Russian meddling. Trump disputed the Thursday testimony of former FBI Director James Comey who initiated the investigation on the Russian ties.
Trump said he would share 100 percent under oath what transpired between him and Comey, which Smirnoff used as a point to market its drink.
Netizens approve ad campaign
While the Russian investigation divided Americans, the Smirnoff ad campaign got the thumbs up in social media. One Twitter member described the campaign as brilliant and cited the ad as a good example how to capitalize on current affairs, The Telegraph reported.
Paulus Egberts agreed and tweeted it is how to tap into the news. Eric M Tyson, who replied to the CNN posting of the Smirnoff ad campaign, tweeted that Smirnoff sounds like it is trolling Trump.
Despite Trump’s denial of the Russians not meddling in the 2016 election, he is perceived as too friendly to Russia. Before the U.S.
airstrike on Syria, Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin were BFFs. On June 6, two days before Comey’s testimony, Foreign Secretary Rex Tillerson disclosed that despite the ongoing FBI investigation, Trump ordered rebuilding Washington’s relationship with Moscow, Reuters reported.
Tillerson shared Trump’s order while in New Zealand where he had a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English. The secretary, however, was met with protesters who threw water-filled condoms at an effigy of Trump in front of the Parliament. Perhaps the next ad campaign would be about condoms and Trump.
