-- wrote:

> "notbob" > wrote in message
> news
> > On 2005-05-21, Steve Pope > wrote:
> >
> > > is an atypical form of vodka that, probably, is not to
> > > most vodka drinker's taste.
> >
> > Vodka!? ...taste!? ...that's funny.
>
> some can taste a difference, others can't. Doesn't mean it isn't there.
>
> - except to the vodka-taste-challenged :-)


Vodka got it's big push back in the 50's in the US with Smirnoff's "Smirnoff
leaves you breathless" ad campaign, before that gin was the white water of
choice, wodka before then was used most famously in a concoction called "The
Moscow Mule", otherwise it was not all that popular.

Those Smirnoff ads (which used celebrities, these chic and witty ads are
classics of their kind and were all over the place, e.g. _Life_, _Time_,
_Esquire_, _Holiday_, etc.) pushed vodka as a "neutral" and "tasteless"
mixer, also pushed the fact that you could not detect vodka on the breath
(remember, this was a time when Scotch reigned supreme and three - drink
lunches were the norm)...

[I've got one of these Smirnoff ads framed right above my computer, it's
from 1961 and features glam supermodel Suzy Parker (one of my
"obsessions")...the tagline reads "It's a whole new fashion in liquor...".
Look on Ebay or in old mags for these ads, they are great...]

--
Best
Greg