Yet another blow to Absolut Vodka ad: copyright violation

An image of the candlelit rally held in Gwanghwamun Square, downtown Seoul, is visualized as the shape of an Absolut Vodka bottle in this advertisement. / Courtesy of Absolut Vodka Korea Facebook page

By Hong Dam-young, Park Si-soo

A new advertisement for Absolut Vodka is dragged into deeper trouble.

Upon its release early this week, the world-famous vodka brand owned by Pernod Ricard was overwhelmed by criticism from people questioning the appropriateness of a photo of a mass anti-president protest in Seoul.

On Tuesday, another controversy arose -- the photo’s copyright.

The photo is believed to have been taken on the roof of the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul, which was open exclusively to photojournalists during the rallies for safety reasons.

If so, how did the company obtain the photo?

An Absolut Vodka spokesperson did not answer to repeated calls from The Korea Times.

“The company should clarify the source of the image,” said architecture photographer Kim Yong-kwan.