Absolut Book

It's an Absolut-ly unabashed commercial salute to one brand of vodka that has almost single-handedly defined the shape of creative magazine advertising for many years. New York City adman Lewis not only recounts the beginnings of the campaign and the U.S. launch but also documents the story of the long-term business relationship between client and agency. This 15-year saga of bottle as hero shows, first, relatively conservative ads (Absolut joy, Absolut anticipation, Absolut generosity), then segues to the by-now-expected, break-through-the-clutter commercial: the 1987 musical "holiday song" chip, a plastic record, and a packet of flower seeds. Best are the captions and some of the behind-the-scenes footage and prose, such as the fact thatwheat was used to attract pigeons to Piazza San Marco to form the shape of a bottle of--what else? Absolut Venice, of course.