RUSSIAN STANDARD IS UP TO ITS OLD TRICKS

by resurfacing allegations in the public eye against rival Stolichnaya. Standard’s new ad campaign, titled “Pure Russian,” comes to head with Stoli’s “Choose Authenticity,” print campaign.

“This campaign draws a line between brands that are truly Russian and those that are not,” said Roustam Tariko, founder and chairman of Russian Standard Group.

Standard’s press release “calls into question the integrity of a recently launched marketing campaign by Stolichnaya entitled ‘Choose Authenticity,’ in which Stolichnaya claims to be authentically Russian."

Russian Standard filed a lawsuit against Pernod last year in a U.S. federal court accusing the company of “false advertising.” Standard claims that Stoli is at least partially distilled in Latvia, and therefore not a “pure” Russian vodka like Pernod claims. Pernod denies these allegations and maintains Stoli’s authenticity.

Pernod did not respond to a request for comment by press time.