Real spirit

Russia – A Leonardo DiCaprio lookalike stars in a user-generated video for vodka brand Five Lakes.

• Iconography is being subverted as established definitions of luxury are rejected and reframed
• The video, created by one of Five Lakes’ partners, satirises this new-found appreciation for all things fake in its video

Security guard Roman Burtsev rose to fame in the Oscar season earlier this year when images of the DiCaprio lookalike surfaced online. Since achieving internet notoriety, Burtsev has landed his own tv show and the leading role in a video celebrating the realness of Russian vodka brand Five Lakes.

Playing himself, Burtsev is shown driving his fake BMW, dressed in a tracksuit with an Abibas label. Beside him, Burtsev’s girlfriend carefully applies red nail varnish to a pair of shoes, attempting to pass them off as by Christian Louboutin.

‘One day you realise your life is but a fake,’ says Burtsev. ‘The rat race for status, glamorous life and fake love is balancing on the brink of decency.’