The 2008 Campari Calendar is born

Starring: Eva Mendes
Photographed By: Marino Parisotto

Campari’s story continues through the pages of the 2008 edition of the Campari Calendar: the style changes and becomes pure fantasy and fairy tales take life as never before. Campari Tales, the concept for the year 2008, is an adult, glamorous and glossy story book where Eva Mendes’ alluring sensuality is the absolute protagonist and her enchanting beauty is captured by Marino Parisotto’s lens.

Now in its 9th edition, the Campari Calendar seduces with its fantastical imagery immersed in unreal dreamscapes and rich in dramatic narrative power. The fairy tale becomes a metaphor that strikes the imagination and infuses it with beauty and modern relevancy.

The reconstruction of the myth and the search for hidden meanings has made the fairytale into a mirror of the evolution of humanity where women often play the leading roles and their fragility is transformed into strength, sometimes superhuman in its power.

In the Calendar, Eva Mendes’ intense Latin beauty and Campari’s unique red passion become the stars of an adventure that enthrals the viewer and absorbs him or her in a magical world of happy endings.

Thirteen shots, a splendid cover and 12 fairytales that live and flourish in the surreal atmospheres created by Marino Parisotto’s enchanted lens. Marino’s unique vision and shooting techniques make him stand out in the international scene and he has been defined by Photo France as one of the top ten photographers in the world. Marino has succeeded in charging the beaches of the set in Rosignano (Leghorn, Italy) with a fresh and resonant energy that is the perfect interpretation of the violently stormy and blindingly sunny days that played out during the shoot.

Eva Mendes stars in the 12 fairytales with distinctive flair in every photograph; aggressively and breathtakingly beautiful in the Little Match Girl, statuesque as Little Red Riding Hood taming her wolf; imperious mistress of an adoring and enslaved Pinocchio, and modern Cinderella sharing a toast with her prince past midnight.

“Eva has been the perfect choice”, says Bob Kunze-Concewitz, Gruppo Campari CEO, “she is an international star with great flair and has interpreted the Campari Tales with passion and sublime grace.”

Eva Mendes, American born of Cuban descent, famous for her action movies – from her debut role in Once Upon a Time in Mexico to HITCH, Ghost Rider and We Own The Night – plays with Parisotto’s lens with intriguing and conniving glances, charging the Campari fairytales with audacious sensuality.

“The Campari Calendar has been a truly unique experience,” says Eva Mendes. “I had never posed for a calendar before and I was thrilled that Campari has given me the opportunity to interpret these wonderful stories… who wouldn’t want to live a fairytale even if for a short while?”

The Campari Tales feature beasts and princes alongside the princess, but Eva’s co-star is unmistakably Campari. With its bold red strokes Campari emboldens the heroine and it becomes the red line that unifies and defines the Calendar as it has done so for the past eight years in previous editions.

The background of the pictures is characterized by Marino Parisotto’s sumptuous skies that remind us of those by great artists of the Romantic period. The stormy clouds and wind swept sees take the Tales to a savage and primordial dimension that sets the mood for fairytales to play out. The pictures look like frescos from another place and time, and through Parisotto’s camera they become fantasy, losing their connection with reality and becoming something ethereal and enchanted.

“Fairies and witches have always been female protagonists in a man’s world, and they are also the first with whom a man must contend during his infancy,” says Marino Parisotto. “I feel privileged that I have had the opportunity to give shape to this celebration of women.”

The 2008 Campari Tales Calendar is printed in limited edition 9,999 copies and distributed internationally.

The Campari Tales concept was developed by the Campari team together with Paris based agency Callegari Bereville Grey.

The Calendar launch took place in Milan on the 6th of November at the Superstudio Più, with another launch in Miami on the 8th of December at the Art Basel.

Gruppo Campari is a major player in the global beverage sector, trading in over 190 nations around the world with a leading position in the Italian and Brazilian markets and a strong presence in the US, Germany and Switzerland. The Group has an extensive portfolio that spans three business segments: spirits, wines and soft drinks. In the spirits segment stand out internationally renowned brands, such as Campari, SKYY Vodka and Cynar together with leading local brands, such as Aperol, Cabo Wabo, CampariSoda, Glen Grant, Ouzo 12, Zedda Piras, X-Rated and the Brazilian brands Dreher, Old Eight, Drury’s. In the wine segment together with Cinzano, known world-wide, are Liebfraumilch, Mondoro, Riccadonna, Sella & Mosca and Teruzzi & Puthod all respected wines in their category. In the soft drinks segment are Crodino, Lemonsoda and its respective line extension dominating the Italian market. The Group has over 1,500 employees. The shares of the parent company, Davide Campari-Milano, are listed on the Italian Stock Exchange.

Campari is imported, marketed and distributed by Wands Limited, a subsidiary company of The Farsons Group of Companies.