Smirnoff’s speculated partnership with drag queen LaQueene certainly sparks conversation and debate among consumers. We analyzed online conversation around Smirnoff, a popular Russian vodka brand owned by British company Diageo, from 30th of April to 6th of May, to uncover key trends and insights.

Over 11K engagements in less than a week

Discussions about Smirnoff spiked on May 6th, one day after the scandal between Smirnoff and drag queen Maxine LaQueene. LaQueene recently posted several pictures on Instagram with “Paid Partnership with Smirnoff” tag. 

Negative sentiment was overwhelming

Negative sentiment was driven by news about the speculated partnership between Smirnoff and drag queen LaQueene who “flashed his genitals in front of women and teenagers” in Texas. Smirnoff later denied the partnership but the news caused huge backlash towards the brand.

Although positive sentiment was only 14.3%, it was driven by Smirnoff’s special edition bottle of its ice drink.

Most social discussion took place on Twitter

English conversations were predominant

English accounted for 81.1% of conversations online. Next, Spanish and Portuguese ranked 2nd and 3rd in online discussions about Smirnoff.

More than half of discussions were US-based 

Brazil and Argentina made up 5.6% and 4.5% of online conversations thanks to Smirnoff’s limited edition partnership with RBD, a Latin pop band.

Millennials were most vocal 

In fact, half of the conversations were from Gen Y. Gen Z ranked second, making up 37.5% of online discussions. 

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