Absolut ad causes shit storm

[Just Kill Me]

Absolut vodka pulls ad showing California in Mexico
Mon Apr 7, 9:36 PM ET


The distillers of Sweden's Absolut vodka have withdrawn an advertisement run in Mexico that angered many U.S. citizens by idealizing an early 19th century map showing chunks of the United States as Mexican.
The billboard ad has the slogan "In an Absolut World" slapped over a pre-1848 map showing California, Arizona and other U.S. states as Mexican territory. Those states were carved out of what had been Mexican lands until that year.
Although it was not shown in the United States, U.S. media outlets picked up on the ad, and after a barrage of complaints, Absolut's maker said on Sunday the ad campaign would cease.
Defending the campaign last week, Absolut maker Vin & Spirit said the ad was created "with a Mexican sensibility" and was not meant for the U.S. market.
"In no way was this meant to offend or disparage, nor does it advocate an altering of borders, nor does it lend support to any anti-American sentiment, nor does it reflect immigration issues," a spokeswoman wrote on Absolut's Web site.
"Instead, it hearkens to a time which the population of Mexico may feel was more ideal," she wrote.
Absolut's blog cite has received more than a thousand comments since the ad campaign was launched a few weeks ago, with many calling for boycotts of the Swedish company.
"I have poured the remainder of my Absolut bottles down the sink," one blogger wrote.
A war between Mexico and the United States from 1846 to 1848 started with Mexico's refusal to recognize the U.S. annexation of Texas and ended with the occupation of Mexico City by U.S. troops.
At the end, Mexico ceded nearly half of its territory to the United States, forming the states of California, Nevada, Utah and parts of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Wyoming.
Mexicans remain sensitive about the loss and the location of the border. At the same time, the United States is fortifying barriers to keep out undocumented Mexican migrants.
Some Mexicans use the term "Reconquista" (reconquest) to refer to the growing presence in California of Mexican migrants and their descendants.
France's Pernod Ricard is taking over Absolut vodka, one of the world's top-selling spirit brands, after buying Vin & Spirit from the Swedish government at the end of March.
(Reporting by Noel Randewich, editing by Philip Barbara)

Copyright © 2008 Reuters Limited.



Mon Apr 7, 2:53 PM ET


I can't stop laughing about this one.

[Dixie Normos]

So they were trying to appeal to the Mexican public in order to sell their product? HOW DARE THEY!!!!

What the eff does it have to do with Americans anyway if it isn't meant for them, or even posted on their own soil? To the "many U.S. citizens" angered by the advertisement: Get over yourselves.

[McJag]

Originally Posted by Dixie Normos

So they were trying to appeal to the Mexican public in order to sell their product? HOW DARE THEY!!!!

What the eff does it have to do with Americans anyway if it isn't meant for them, or even posted on their own soil? Get over yourselves.

Dixie! Kindly do not indict the whole country! Most of us would have found it funny & interesting-just as it was intended. Most never got to see it.

[Dixie Normos]

^better?

[kingcap72]

Originally Posted by Dixie Normos

So they were trying to appeal to the Mexican public in order to sell their product? HOW DARE THEY!!!!

What the eff does it have to do with Americans anyway if it isn't meant for them, or even posted on their own soil? To the "many U.S. citizens" angered by the advertisement: Get over yourselves.

I don't see how anybody could get upset, since part of the U.S. used to belong to Mexico anyway.

[KristiB]

I think it's funny.

[darksithbunny]

Originally Posted by kingcap72

I don't see how anybody could get upset, since part of the U.S. used to belong to Mexico anyway.

Don't forget England, France, and Spain and whoever else...oh the Indians that were already here?

[Sweetie]

Some people need to quit getting offended over every little thing. It's uncalled for and a waste of time, money and energy.

[Dixie Normos]

Originally Posted by kingcap72

I don't see how anybody could get upset, since part of the U.S. used to belong to Mexico anyway.

I think that's the point, SOME citizens eithe a) didn't know that, and don't want to learn, or b) know and don't want to be reminded.

I got into an argument once (shocking, I know) with an American who refused to believe that British and Canadian troops burnt down the Whitehouse, he yelled "Yeah, well, we burnt down Toronto!" to which I replied, "Yes, I know, that's why we toasted the Whitehouse. Now muddy little York is a booming metropolis, you sure showed us!."

[Just Kill Me]

A bunch of easily offended people are wasting liquor! Alcohol abuse!!!!!!!!!!!

[Rondette]

God, don't these types realise that companies thrive on controversial ad campaigns? They're giving them free publicity FFS.

[kingcap72]

Originally Posted by darksithbunny

Don't forget England, France, and Spain and whoever else...oh the Indians that were already here?

My grandmother was an Indian, so I couldn't forget they were here first. I like to remind people about the Indians when they go off on a 'this is our country' rant.

Originally Posted by Dixie Normos

I think that's the point, SOME citizens eithe a) didn't know that, and don't want to learn, or b) know and don't want to be reminded.

I got into an argument once (shocking, I know) with an American who refused to believe that British and Canadian troops burnt down the Whitehouse, he yelled "Yeah, well, we burnt down Toronto!" to which I replied, "Yes, I know, that's why we toasted the Whitehouse. Now muddy little York is a booming metropolis, you sure showed us!."

I think some people in the U.S. just like to have their own little sugar-coated version of American history, and don't want to hear anything else that ruins that image.

[Just Kill Me]

Originally Posted by kingcap72

My grandmother was an Indian, so I couldn't forget they were here first. I like to remind people about the Indians when they go off on a 'this is our country' rant.

I particularly enjoy telling people of European decent that they're wetbacks.

[Rondette]

what's a wetback? :thick:

[kingcap72]

Originally Posted by Just Kill Me

I particularly enjoy telling people of European decent that they're wetbacks.

That must go over well? I enjoy telling people that the race-mixing that went on during slavery didn't just impact blacks but whites too. That there were plenty of black people who came out so fair-skinned, or high yellow, that they were able to pass as white and married into white families. We're all just a bunch of mutts mixed with a little of everything.