If Absolut vodka’s PR and events director Jefferey Moran had launched a new broccoli or.phparagus flavor, the event costs could have been a lot lower this time of year. But instead, the brand launched its new peach-flavored spirit, Absolut Apeach, during the fruit’s off-season, forcing Strategic Group president Noah Tepperberg to buy premium-priced peaches at $40 a case to deck out Koi (a branch of the celebrity hangout in Los Angeles by the same name) in theme-appropriate decor.
Strolling inside the venue on a peach-colored carpet, guests found peaches encased in Lucite cocktail tables; peaches inside clear glass vases holding giant arrangements of peonies, roses, and hydrangeas by JM Visuals; and peaches inside tabletop ice sculptures by Ice Fantasies that also served as perches for bottles of Apeach.
The Japanese restaurant served abundant sushi on Absolut-branded light-up trays, and Sylvia Weinstock baked a 65-pound peach-shaped cake in honor of hostess Nicollette Sheridan’s birthday-boy beau, Nicklas Soderblom. (So, the celebrity tie-in may have been a little bit of a reach—but the hordes of paparazzi outside snapping the likes of Ashton Kutcher, Mos Def, and Orlando Jones didn’t seem to care.)
—Alesandra Dubin
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