Hurry Sundown!
Featuring a wonderful double-entendre, Smirnoff's “Hurry Sundown” campaign featured a desperate woman, who depending on interpretation, could be either 1) a vampire desperately waiting for sundown or 2) a desperate housewife waiting for cocktail hour.
As part of the "Hurry Sundown" campaign Smirnoff created a cocktail called the “Vampire Gimlet” and with it, issued a beautiful Purple Vampire swizzle stick. The stick is marked “The Vampire Gimlet: Smirnoff and Rose’s Lime Juice”
Vampire or Devil: A careful look of the swizzle stick will show that the swizzle stick is not a vampire, but rather a devil-woman with horns and a pitchfork.
Pact with the Devil
Smirnoff’s ran another halloween-themed ad campaign, "Devilishly Dry". The campaign featured a devilish woman, with ice cubes on the points of her pitchfork. She's up to no good, in a red costume and lusting for a "Devilishly Dry" Smirnoff Martini.
A red devil-woman swizzle stick was issued for the campaign. You may notice the Red Devil has a striking similarity to the Vampire Swizzle Stick (Vampires don’t usually have horns…). I’m guessing that was a cost saving measure to use the same mold.
Both the Devil and the Vampire Ads ran in magazines in 1976; the sticks were most likely issued in or around the same time (unverified). These sticks can be found occasionally sold eBay. The price is usually high, running around $12-$20 per stick, however occasionally a lot of 3 or 4 is listed for around $20.
Frankenstein Overlooked?
Smirnoff ran a "Bloody Mary" ad featuring the "flat-top" Frankenstein. But poor Frankie was ripped off…no swizzle stick!
That's probably because the Frankie's ad ran in 1967 (nine years before the Vampire and Devil ad's).
Learn Something New Everyday
This from the frankensteinia blog:
The heavily retouched photo has actor Paul Ford wearing a high forehead and wig, with the green color most likely painted on top of the still. In fact, the head may have been patched on — dare I say Frankenstein-like — to a body double.
Ford was a character actor with a long list of choice screen credits, Ford was best known for his stint as the clueless, long-suffering Colonel Hall opposite the flimflamming Sergeant Bilko of the Phil Silvers Show (hugely popular from 1955-59).