{"id":97,"date":"2024-08-12T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-12T08:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/12\/this-is-disgusting-try-some-marketing-chicagos-vile-tasting-liqueur\/"},"modified":"2024-08-12T08:45:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-12T08:45:00","slug":"this-is-disgusting-try-some-marketing-chicagos-vile-tasting-liqueur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internship.infoskaters.com\/blog\/2024\/08\/12\/this-is-disgusting-try-some-marketing-chicagos-vile-tasting-liqueur\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThis is disgusting, try some\u201d: Marketing Chicago\u2019s vile-tasting liqueur"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week\u2019s Masters in Marketing<\/a> is near and dear to my heart, if not my taste buds.<\/p>\n

As a naturalized Chicagoan, it is my duty and honor to introduce you to one of the city\u2019s most disgusting \u2014 and most beloved \u2014 substances.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

The herbaceous flavor of Jeppson\u2019s Mal\u00f6rt<\/a><\/strong> (Swedish for \u201cwormwood,\u201d the drink\u2019s only flavoring) was (in)famously described by comedian John Hodgman as \u201cpencil shavings and heartbreak.\u201d<\/p>\n

To find out how CH Distillery markets a liqueur that\u2019s only reliably available to 2.7 million people and tastes like burning rubber, I talked to Anna Sokratov<\/a><\/strong>, brand manager at Jeppson\u2019s Mal\u00f6rt at CH Distillery in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Sokratov has the enviable job of getting people excited to drink what has been called \u201cthe worst beverage in the world.\u201d In 2023, Sokratov co-created an ad campaign featuring photos of people tasting Mal\u00f6rt for the first time, with the tagline, \u201cDo not drink. Responsibly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lest you think any of this is an exaggeration, please know that Mal\u00f6rt was legal during Prohibition because it was convincingly sold as a medicine \u2026 for stomach worms<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Lesson 1: Build community around shared experiences.<\/h2>\n

At first sip, Mal\u00f6rt does not seem like an exercise in community-building, unless that community is your enemies.<\/p>\n

But Sokratov describes a scene familiar to any Chicagoan who\u2019s seen the inside of a bar: One person takes their first shot of Mal\u00f6rt (this is not a sipping alcohol, trust), and everybody around them cheers. Soon, everybody wants to try it. Most regret it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever you talk about Mal\u00f6rt, people always share a crazy story or [give you] the most obscene way to describe the flavor,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd in a weird way, it creates community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sokratov also points out that most Chicagoans aren\u2019t enjoying a shot of Mal\u00f6rt by themselves after a long day at the office. It\u2019s more of a rite of passage, a \u201cway to connect with people through stories of what you think it tastes like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe thrive off of people talking about us and sharing the good and the bad of Mal\u00f6rt,\u201d Sokratov says.<\/p>\n

Take the recent campaign \u201cI Mal\u00f6rted<\/a>,\u201d which compares a shot of Mal\u00f6rt to voting for a candidate you dislike (not mentioned: that you have to hold your nose for both).<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s not just a funny ad, it\u2019s supporting local businesses \u2014 Mal\u00f6rt drinkers can get an \u201cI Voted\u201d-style sticker from more than a hundred bars and liquor stores around Chicago.<\/p>\n

Lesson 2: Break the fourth wall.<\/h2>\n

The first Mal\u00f6rt ad I ever saw was in 2022, in season one of the Chicago-set TV show The Bear<\/em>, of all places. Sokratov says it was one of the first ads they ever ran \u2014 for nearly a century prior, Mal\u00f6rt relied on word of mouth and Chicagoans pranking out-of-town guests.<\/p>\n

Since marketing Mal\u00f6rt is such a new phenomenon, Sokratov feels a lot of freedom to be funny, to be outlandish, to be experimental. (In fact, one of the people she looks to for inspiration is previous marketing master Greg Fass of Liquid Death<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an old saw at this point that authenticity drives consumer loyalty. But less is said about what authenticity looks<\/em> like. \u201cPeople are really looking for brands that break that fourth wall,\u201d Sokratov says. \u201cThey want to see the people behind the brand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Past and present employees appear in a series of ads featuring Mal\u00f6rt faces (Google it), which are underscored by the tagline, \u201cDo not enjoy. Responsibly.\u201d Mal\u00f6rt may be a lot of things, but it\u2019s neither dishonest nor indirect.<\/p>\n\n

Lesson 3: One size does not fit all.<\/h2>\n

Sokratov raises an eyebrow at the adage that marketing is about storytelling. Tell stories<\/em> \u2014 plural.<\/p>\n

She says that it\u2019s a mistake to think that Mal\u00f6rt\u2019s taste means that there\u2019s not a lot of nuance in marketing it. \u201cOne size does not <\/em>fit all when it comes to something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2018s easy to try and fit this brand into one single category of \u2018everybody thinks it just tastes bad,\u2019\u201d Sokratov tells me. \u201cBut it\u2019s a lot more complex than that.\u201d Though Mal\u00f6rt employees have joked about just putting a photo of a toilet on an ad, they\u2019d rather explore the multiplicity of taste experiences.<\/p>\n

Part of the fun of trying Mal\u00f6rt for the first time is trying to describe the taste. Sokratov has heard \u201cgasoline\u201d and \u201cused Band-Aid,\u201d which do sound like quite disparate flavors, though I\u2019m not willing to confirm.<\/p>\n

Redditors<\/a> have described the taste as \u201cturpentine,\u201d \u201cold tire and bug spray,\u201d and \u201call your hopes and dreams being snuffed out at once.\u201d In 2018, Chicago Magazine<\/a> quoted such poetry as \u201cthe liquid equivalent of a Chicago winter\u201d and \u201ca punch in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the record, I like Mal\u00f6rt, but I think it tastes like grapefruit and rubbing alcohol with a violent aftertaste of burnt tire.<\/p>\n\n

If the taste is experienced so differently, \u201cthen the story we tell should be different to a lot of other people,\u201d Sokratov says. Throughout its history, Mal\u00f6rt has not been shy about using different descriptions of its product, which include such gems as \u201cMal\u00f6rt: Kick your mouth in the balls.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not every ad campaign will be a viral success, but \u201cwe still learn about the people who drink it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lingering Questions<\/h2>\n

This edition of Masters in Marketing introduces a feature we\u2019re calling <\/em>Lingering Questions. The rules of play are simple: Each person we interview gives us a question we\u2019ll ask of the next master of marketing. They don\u2019t know who it will be (and sometimes neither do we). <\/em><\/p>\n

Since Anna Sokratov of Mal\u00f6rt is the first in this series, a fellow Chicagoan and I came up with a question to kick things off:<\/p>\n

Mal\u00f6rt is one of Chicago\u2019s mascots. What would Mal\u00f6rt\u2019s mascot be, and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sokratov:<\/strong> A 31-gallon galvanized steel trash can with a lid. Both are perceived as being unappealing or gross, and the cans last a long time \u2014 similar to the long-lasting flavor of Mal\u00f6rt.<\/p>\n

Sokratov gave us a question that our next master of marketing will answer in next week\u2019s newsletter, and I promise that you will not want to miss their answer: What unconventional marketing approach would you like to take, and how would you go about doing <\/strong>something<\/strong> you haven’t done before?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Subscribe below to see next week’s answer and the next lingering question.<\/p>\n

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