How Koskenkorva Takes Sustainability – But Not Itself – Seriously

Koskenkorva – the Finnish premium vodka striving to become the most sustainable brand in the category – has produced a unique brand film featuring animatronic animals and a sustainability–themed remix of the 1999 Bomfunk MCs hit 'Freestyler'. The film circumvents typical sustainability communication conventions by adopting a humorous style in line with the brand’s ‘Party like there is tomorrow’ slogan.

It’s an ordinary late evening in August in the middle of a golden field of barley in the village of Koskenkorva in Finland’s Southern Ostrobothnia. Suddenly a voice calls “Music!” and a sped-up instrumental version of Freestyler by Bomfunk MCs starts blaring from the speakers. A subsequent “...and dance!” command brings life into both a human actor and an animatronic eagle who start bobbing their heads in rhythm.

A scene like this would be right at home in a screwball comedy. However, when the scene is for a sustainability brand film from an established premium vodka brand, eyebrows are bound to be raised.

“People care about the environment and sustainability, but when researching this campaign, we found that traditional, ‘serious’ communication around sustainability rarely lands”, says Heini Suominen, Senior Brand Manager of Koskenkorva.

“And in any case, that style of communication wouldn’t have felt natural for us. We’re more at home with raving animatronic otters and Freestyler”, Suominen laughs.

Realness From the Village 

Even though Koskenkorva cracks jokes in its new advertisement, sustainability is no laughing matter to them. The vodka brand from the small Finnish village of the same name strives to become the world’s most sustainable brand in its segment while maintaining its dedication to product quality. The target is lofty but according to Suominen, they’re well on their way.

“Sustainability is – and has been for a long time – a huge priority for us”, she says.

“We’re immensely proud that we’re the world’s first vodka made from regeneratively farmed barley. We’ve also reached great internal milestones, for example, we’re already at a 99.9% recycling and reutilisation rate at our distillery and were awarded the Green Company of the Year recognition in 2018. However, in our minds, we still have a ways to go.”

Suominen names increasing post-consumer recycled glass up to 60% in Koskenkorva bottles during 2025 and achieving a carbon neutral production process in its distillery in Koskenkorva during 2026 as just some of the brand’s sustainability goals.

Party Like There is Tomorrow

The dancing animals in Koskenkorva’s music video / sustainability brand film are produced with practical effects and animatronics instead of VFX. 

“Animatronics brings a level of whimsiness and some roughness around the edges that you can’t achieve with VFX. This also plays into our goal of being light in the way we’re presenting our message, but not making light of it”, says Henry Littlechild, the director of the brand film.

For the music Koskenkorva wanted something that would be instantly recognisable and at the same time would nod towards their native country of Finland.

Not content with just borrowing the classic Finnish club banger, Koskenkorva wanted to put their own unique, tongue-in-cheek spin to it by incorporating lyrics focused on the brand’s sustainability actions.

“As with the visual style, we wanted to be clear about the facts, but still wanted to entertain. I’m really happy how we were able to hit the mark!” says Suominen.

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