The Recent History of Russia in 14 Bottles of Vodka

November 25, 1995, Saturday evening. Millions of viewers in Russia and the CIS countries habitually clung to their TV screens and watched ORT (that was the name of the First Channel back then): the winter games of the popular TV show “What? Where? When?", which were announced as the "20th Anniversary Games", were on air. In honor of the TV show's anniversary the strongest experts of recent years, who had the status of “immortals,” took part in the drawing of the main prize. Immortality was visually indicated by the crimson color of their jackets, which was ultra-fashionable at that time. The first game, however, ended in disappointment for the fans of television intellectuals: Alexei Blinov’s team was defeated by viewers with a score of 6 to 3. The camera captured the frustrated faces of that team's main stars - Alexander Druz and Fedor Dvinyatin. And only the voice of the host Vladimir Voroshilov was cheerful and urged the losers not to feel down. “Cheer up! Let's drink together to our victory in the future! — said the off-screen demiurge, “Let’s water down our failures with this wonderful vodka!” With these words, the assistant placed a red box with a gold pattern on the gaming table, from which he began to pull out bottles of vodka of a new brand, yet unknown to anyone at that time. “New bread vodka “Dovgan”!” - Voroshilov presented the “consolation prize”, descending into the hall from the showman’s office. After that he personally filled the glasses of sad experts with vodka. That scene at the end of the program with the distribution of Dovgan vodka to the losers was then recreated and repeated each episode up until the New Year, and Voroshilov did not spare compliments for the “wonderful vodka with an amazing taste.” Gradually, other drinks were added to vodka with a portrait of a bearded merchant on a label, inscripted “Dovgan”: Abrau-Durso champagne and cognac from the Kizlyar Brandy Factory. The effect was amazing: at the beginning of 1996, this brand vodka, the existence of which was unknown to anyone just a few months ago, was successfully being sold throughout the country. Partner factories also noted a fantastic increase in sales - the aforementioned Kizlyar Brandy Factory, for example, increased sales 20 times. However, almost immediately a scandal broke out on television: the commercial department of ORT stated that advertising vodka on air of the show “What? Where? When?" did not pass through any documents and Voroshilov simply put the money in his pocket. But the conflict was quickly resolved. The vodka manufacturer, businessman Vladimir Dovgan, paid all the fines and entered into an official sponsorship contract with the producers of “What? Where? When?". The logo with a bearded man decorated envelopes with questions from viewers and screens above the gaming table. Thus began the short but vibrant history of vodka, which is still remembered as a textbook case in the history of new Russian marketing.