October 15, 2003 15 October 2003 Absolut Out Spectacular

Absolut Out is a new U.S. spectacular. It is found in the November issue of Out magazine. It is a 4 page insert. I don’t know if it’s in all issues or only included in customers with subscriptions.

On page 1 it says “Saturday, October 11. No Time Like the Present”. Open up the ad to pages 2 and 3 and you see 9 closet doors. On the left side of page 2 and the right side of page 3 there are tabs that say “Come Out”. When you pull each of these tabs, the door open up and you can see different items of clothing etc in each closet.

On page 2 there are 4 doors. Door #1(gym bunny) is a silver folding door. Inside: mens gym clothes, hand weights etc. Door #2 is light colored wood. Inside: ribbons and trophies and photos of dogs. I’m guessing the ribbons and trophies were won at a dog show. Door #3 is dark wood. Inside: grey suits, white shirts, neck ties, black shoes … and a pink ballgown with a pink pair of high heels! Door #4 is red. Inside: (punk rock?) leather clothes, guitar, Absolut Pistols poster in the back of the closet.

On page 3 there are 5 doors. Door #5 is yellow. Inside: (girl jock)
Varsity sweatshirt, sports equipment. If you look really close, you can see the Absolut bottle shape on the clipboard that is hanging. Door #6 is a double set of purple doors. Inside: (drag queen) wigs, make up mirror, boa, womens clothes etc. Door #7 is olive colored. Inside: (gay activist) Pride flag, posters, HRC etc. Door #8 is pink. Inside: lots of shoes!
Door #9 is dark green. Inside: (transgender?) mens clothes, golf clubs and a black and white photo of a woman on the door. At the bottom of page three is Absolut Out. When you have all the door open and turn the ad on the side, the closet doors form the shape of the Absolut bottle.

Page 4 (back page) reads as follows: National Coming Out Day (October 11) is an international event that gives gay, lesbian and bisexual people the opportunity to “come out” to others about their sexuality. It also provides a means of increasing the visibility of gay people.

This piece is a miniature replica of the spectacular life-sized billboard created to bring dimension and attention to this important day. Absolut Out is also an on line auction of items donated from celebrity closets, with all proceeds benefiting the Human Rights Campagn Foundation. Absolut has been an advocate of the gay and lesbian community since 1981. Absolut Out celebrates the creativity and diversity of openly gay people.