ABSOLUT(R) Vodka Joins Forces With Live Earth to Combat Global Warming

ABSOLUT(R) Vodka Joins Forces With Live Earth to Combat Global Warming

Alliance to Raise Awareness of Climate Crisis and Inspire Consumers to Take Action

NEW YORK, June 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, ABSOLUT(R) Vodka announced its partnership with Live Earth in its fight against global warming. As part of this alliance, ABSOLUT will act as the title sponsor of the "Live Earth SOS" short films series aimed at generating awareness for the global climate crisis. The partnership, which "debuts" at the 7/7/07 Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, marks another step in the brand's ongoing commitment to help combat global warming*.

"Live Earth is a bold concept that challenges and engages a widespread audience. This relationship is a key part of future consumer programming for ABSOLUT vodka," says Tim Murphy, Vice President of Marketing, The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. "We're confident our consumers will be inspired by the power and creativity of these efforts, and take actions to improve our environmental conditions. In the coming months, we will announce our global warming platform, which will be our nationwide initiative to combat the climate crisis," he adds.

As the exclusive spirits partner of Live Earth U.S., ABSOLUT is sponsoring the SOS short films series. Fifty of the SOS films will debut at the Los Angeles Film Festival on Live Earth Day, Sunday, June 24, while the rest will roll out during the next 18 months. The films are aimed at educating audiences about the importance of the fight against global warming and starting conversations aimed at driving solutions. The SOS film series is part of the broader SOS multimedia campaign reaching audiences by short films, television and radio PSAs, an interactive web experience, books and the Live Earth concerts themselves. The SOS films will be available on MSN at http://liveearth.msn.com/.

"We are thrilled to have ABSOLUT Vodka as a Live Earth partner to help us provoke thought and inspire a movement for change through the SOS short films program," said Kevin Wall, founder and producer of Live Earth. "Their participation will help drive the Live Earth and SOS message to a diverse, energized and influential audience," he adds.

The Absolut Spirits Company's environmental work aims to contribute to an ecologically sustainable development. The Absolut Spirits Company focuses on reducing the impact on climate change, sustainable agriculture and optimizing use of natural resources as mandated by V&S Group, the parent company of ABSOLUT Vodka and one of the leading international spirits companies*.

About Live Earth

Live Earth is a monumental music event that will bring together more than 2 billion people on July 7, 2007 to combat the climate crisis. Live Earth will stage concerts in New York, London, Sydney, Tokyo, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Johannesburg, Hamburg and Istanbul, and will feature a mix of both legendary music acts like The Police, Genesis, Bon Jovi and Madonna with the latest headliners like Kanye West, Kelly Clarkson, Black Eyed Peas and Jack Johnson.

Live Earth was founded by Kevin Wall, CEO of Control Room, the company producing the concerts globally. Live Earth will bring together more than 150 of the world's top music acts to inspire an audience of over two billion people to trigger a mass movement to combat global warming. Live Earth seeks to inspire its global audience to make meaningful and lasting changes in their lives and spur action by corporations and governments to turn the tide on global warming.

Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign carried out by The Climate Group, Stop Climate Chaos, the Alliance for Climate Protection, and other international NGOs to move individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming. Former Vice President of the United States Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance for Climate Protection and a Partner of Live Earth.

Exclusive online media partner MSN is helping Live Earth reach people in every corner of the globe. The concerts will be streamed live on 7/7/07 at LiveEarth.MSN.com. MSN's 39 localised web portals worldwide attract 465 million monthly users. The concerts will be broadcast on the BBC in the UK and on more than 120 networks around the world.

About The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc.

The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc., headquartered in New York, is a subsidiary of V&S Group and operates under the auspices of V&S Absolut Spirits in Stockholm, which produces and markets ABSOLUT(R) VODKA, ABSOLUT CUT(TM), Level (TM) Vodka, FRIS(R) Vodka , Plymouth(TM) Gin and Cruzan(R) Rum. The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc. imports ABSOLUT VODKA, Level Vodka, Plymouth Gin and Cruzan Rum in the US and distributes the brands through FutureBrands LLC, a joint venture with Beam Global Spirits and Wine.

*To view details on the company's efforts to combat global warming, visit http://www.vsgroup.com/ and click on "Corporate Responsibility/Environment."

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Source: The Absolut Spirits Company, Inc.

CONTACT: Sarah Bessette, Absolut Spirits Company, +1-212-641-8653,
sarah.bessette@absolut.com; Diedre Schremp, Ketchum, +1-646-935-4063,
diedre.schremp@ketchum.com

Web site: http://www.vsgroup.com/
http://liveearth.msn.com/

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