150 years of passion. Since 1860, Campari has been tasted and appreciated by many people simple as it is or as a preferred ingredient for delicious cocktails.
Today it is a symbol of Italian lifestyle and bon vivre all over the world.
The famous art collective avaf (Assume Vivid Astro Focus) and international artists Vanessa Beecroft and Tobias Rehberger celebrate Campari’s 150th anniversary by creating three celebrative labels in limited edition: the Campari Art Labels.
Campari chooses sensuous Olga Kurylenko to star in its 2010 special edition calendar photographed by young talented Simone Nervi.
Milan, the place where it all began, is the perfect location for the Campari picture shoot.
The new Galleria Campari makes its debut. This special space becomes the symbol of the deep connection between Campari and the world of art with the particular aim of rivisiting this historical liason through the modern, contemporary technology. An experience to be lived.
Over the years, extremely talented and internationally renowned photographers have shot Campari advertising campaigns.
The partnership with Tarsem continued with the “Il Duello” (the Duel) commercial, a lesson in photography with a mysterious setting, confrontation and passion.
Campari Tales. Twelve fairytales, one enchanted story. The stunning Eva Mendes, photographed by Marino Parisotto, interpreted twelve glamorous, glossy tales featuring her alluring sensuality and beauty for the 2007 Campari Calendar.
For the brand’s first global TV campaign, Matthew Rolston directed the sultry Salma Hayek in the “Le Connaisseur” commercial shot in the fictional Hotel Campari. Salma Hayek also starred in the 2006 Campari Calendar photographed by Mario Testino.
Jean Paul Goude, the celebrated French designer, photographer and TV commercial director, took the plot of Hotel Campari and moved it to Club Campari, where everything is possible. Jessica Alba starred in the commercial and in the twelve photos for the 2009 Campari Calendar taken by Mario Testino.
During the eighties, a period of great economic and cultural growth, Campari was the star of exclusive, distinctive occasions, especially the “Milanese aperitif”, an exclusive Happy Hour where people went to affirm their social status, be noticed, and network.
For the Soccer World Cup games hosted by Italy, Campari launched a new advertising campaign based on “Red Passion” that used unconventional devices and moods to express the concept.
The ads in the nineties focused on the brand’s four fundamental values: passion, a cosmopolitan approach, uniqueness, and prestige.
Kelly Le Brock, the gorgeous “Woman in Red”, became the new celebrity testimonial for the brand, starring in the “Campari - It’s Fantasy” commercial directed by Franco Scepi. Architect Matteo Thun also created two limited edition bottles: Foscarina (1990) and Dogaressa (1992).
In the late nineties, Campari launched a new partnership with the well-known Indian director, Tarsem, who filmed the outstanding “Il Graffio” (The Scratch) commercial, the first ad to broach the subject of lesbianism in Italy and a true advertising gem.
In the fifties, artists such as Felice Mosca, Attilio Rossi and Giovanni Mingozzi expressed Campari’s energy through posters inspired by the sports world.
Nino Nanni got the idea of having the Campari bottle circling Earth like a Sputnik.
The sixties marked a significant turning point for Campari advertising with a new graphic approach designed by Leonardo Stroppa, Guido Crepax and Franz Marangolo.
Rome hosted the Olympic Games that year and Campari became one of the first Olympic sponsors in modern history.
Bruno Munari designed the ‘Declinazione grafica del nome Campari’ (Graphic Declension of the name Campari) poster for the opening of Milan’s first subway line.
The logo represented the brand universe and its values.
The day of the celebrity spokesperson arrived. Several world famous actors appeared in Campari commercials, including David Niven, Humphrey Bogart and Nino Manfredi, one of Italy’s most popular stars at the time.
Art became more geometrical and dynamic and styles were more distinctive. Thus, Campari’s advertising inevitably reflected these changes.
An important turning point for advertising occurred when the brand embraced Depero’s fantastic world full of mechanical designs and organic shapes.
After years of conflict and distress, Europe began its difficult journey towards a new beginning.
In the late forties, after a forced hiatus due to the war, the brand launched a new advertising campaign and asked avant-garde artist Carlo Fisanotti, better known as Fisa, to design the poster. The result was a resounding success.
Camparisoda made its debut with a single-serve bottle designed by Depero himself: it was the first pre-mixed drink sold worldwide. Due to its innovation and practicality, Camparisoda revolutionized the company’s production process.
Dudovich’s famous red poster portraying two lovers passionately kissing in a private room is a forerunner of the red passion concept featured in today’s commercials.
Many artists worked with Campari. Leonetto Cappiello, for example, created the famous Spiritello sprite wrapped in an orange peel, an image that people still remember.
Here is the true story of one of Campari’s most famous cocktail: the Negroni.
The drink was supposedly invented between 1919 and 1920 in Florence by bartender Luca Picchi and Count Camillo Negroni. When at Caffè Casoni, the count used to order his Americano cocktail with an extra shot of gin. From that time on, the cocktail was named after its “inventor”.
As many new cafés opened and became more popular, the aperitif custom grew by leaps and bounds. The aperitif was always used to stimulate one’s appetite, but now it also had a social purpose.
Meeting for an aperitif was an excuse to see friends and acquaintances, and to discuss all the latest news.
In this period, artists began to realize the importance of the art – advertising connection.
Attracted by prestige and fame, several collaborated on Campari advertising projects and provided many works in appreciation of a brand that loved art. Marcello Dudovich and Adolfo Magrini were frequent contributors.
In early nineties, Campari launched its first advertising project: a calendar featuring artwork by figurative artist Cesare Tallone. Known for his portraits, he painted a beautiful, alluring woman representing the essence of Red Campari for the calendar.
Campari soon became a popular liqueur in town, and on January 7, 1880, the first Campari advertisement appeared in “Corriere della Sera”, Italy’s most important daily newspaper at that time.
The first advertising posters by Mora launched a Campari tradition of working with many artists and graphic designers for its advertising. Portraying a lively, lighthearted scene, Mora wanted to capture the cosmopolitan lifestyle of the Belle époque.
Bitter Uso Olanda, as Campari was initially called, was the result of Gaspare’s experiments concocting new beverages. The bitter flavor was the distinctive trait of those drinks known for their digestive qualities. The real change was having a bitter before lunch, not after.
As a result, a new popular new custom was born.
In the town of Novara, young Gaspare Campari invented a new liqueur called Rosa Campari, an infusion of herbs, aromatic plants and fruit in alcohol and water.
In late sixties, Gaspare and his family moved to Milan to promote Campari and its secret formula. They were granted a license to open a downtown establishment in the prestigious Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II that they called Caffé Campari.
Campari’s unique recipe has never changed since the beginning and still remains a closely guarded secret.
Many have tried to discover its exact number of ingredients: some say there are 20, others say up to 60. Today, no one knows the real answer except the very few people in charge of the production process.
During the Belle époque, Gaspare invented Campari’s oldest cocktail: the Americano.
Originally known as the Milano-Torino in homage of its two main ingredients, Campari Bitter from Milan and Vermouth from Turin, this drink was later renamed the Americano after the war.
