Creativity, Innovation and the Moscow Mule
Leadership Cocktail with Jeff Hannah
A particularly lively discussion has attempted to distill the distinction between creativity and innovation. Some have suggested that while creativity refers to invention and new ideas, innovation is the implementation of those ideas.
The best of each is embodied in the Moscow Mule, the drink credited with launching the vodka craze in this country. And quite simply, one of our favorite stories!
This cock-tale begins in the pre-WWII era, when vodka was a poor-selling spirit imported from Russia, a country we already had our suspicions about. First, let’s start on the West Coast. At that time, the proprietor of the Cock 'n Bull tavern on LA’s Sunset Strip – one Jack Morgan – was launching a sideline business selling ginger beer. When his brew received a lukewarm response in the Los Angeles area, Morgan sent a shipment to the East Coast in 1941.
As his ginger beer was headed east, Jack Morgan likewise traveled to New York City. Once there, he arranged a special meeting at the Chatham Hotel with the president of Heublein Bros. distributors and the head of Heublein's Smirnoff vodka division. As the evening progressed, the 3 men pondered ways to simultaneously market their products; at one point, the bartender was asked to mix two ounces of vodka on ice with Morgan's ginger beer and a squeeze of fresh lime. And lo, creative magic!
A few rounds of the refreshing concoction ensued – quality assurance, shall we say – and the cocktail was christened the “Moscow Mule.”
New recipe in hand, Jack Morgan returned to the City of Angels, determined to promote the Moscow Mule. In a stroke of marketing genius, he purchased a case of copper mugs in which to serve the cocktail. Legend has it that Morgan visited countless bars and saloons in LA; at each, he would snap a photo of the bartender displaying a bottle of Smirnoff vodka and the distinctive copper mug. He would then take the photo to the next bar down the street, revealing what the competition was selling.
As luck would have it, the Moscow Mule became especially popular with the post-war Hollywood crowd, lending the drink an aura of glamour. Not coincidentally, sales of Smirnoff tripled between 1947 and 1950, and nearly doubled again in 1951. And the copper-mug cocktail with the funny name changed American drink history!
The success of this classic cocktail is attributed to a combination of creativity and innovation. So -- what is your Moscow Mule?