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Absolut's ad with southwest as part of Mexico stirs anger
By Mark Stevenson
Associated Press
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MEXICO CITY -- The Absolut vodka company apologized over the weekend for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan "In an Absolut World," showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. Mexico still resents losing that territory in the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence.

But the ads, which ran only in Mexico and have since ended, were less than ideal for Americans undergoing a border buildup and embroiled in an emotional debate over illegal immigration from their southern neighbor.

More than a dozen calls to boycott Absolut were posted on michellemalkin.com, a Web site operated by conservative columnist Michelle Malkin. The ads sparked heated comment on a half-dozen other Internet sites and blogs.

"In no way was it 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," Absolut said in a statement left on its consumer inquiry phone line Saturday.

Some fringe U.S. groups also claim the land is rightfully part of Mexico, while extreme immigration foes argue parts of the U.S. already are being overtaken by Mexico.

"In an Absolut world, a company that produces vodka fires its entire marketing department in a desperate attempt to win back enraged North American customers after a disastrous ad campaign backfires," a person using the moniker "SalsaNChips" wrote on Malkin's Web site.

A plan for comprehensive immigration reform designed to deal with an estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants in the United States - the vast majority from Mexico - collapsed last summer under the emotional weight of the debate.

Absolut said the ad was designed for a Mexican audience and intended to recall "a time which the population of Mexico might feel was more ideal."

"As a global company, we recognize that people in different parts of the world may lend different perspectives or interpret our ads in a different way than was intended in that market, and for that we apologize."

Vin & Sprit, Absolut's Sweden-based parent company, will be acquired by French spirit maker Pernod Ricard SA under a deal reached last week.

Take a look
In this image released by the Mexican advertising firm of Teran/TBWA, an advertisement created for Swedish Absolut Vodka which ran in Mexico shows a map of the border of Mexico and the United States where it stood before the Mexican-American War of 1848. (AP Photo/Teran/TBWA)
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Reader comments on this story - 4 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Pastafarian wrote on Apr 9, 2008 12:45 PM:

" Devil's Advocate, you are using the wrong side in your example. If you must use Nazi Germany the argument would be this: "How would the Nazis feel if Absolute pubilshed a European map prior to their blitzkreig invasion?" Mexico didn't invade our territory, we invaded theirs. In addition, Mexico never got the land back like the Allies did, at least officially. An argument can be made that Mexico is slowly taking the land back... "

dwarf wrote on Apr 8, 2008 4:06 PM:

" Hey, I love old maps.

I kinda think it's a cool ad. A little funny, even. "

Devil's Advocate wrote on Apr 8, 2008 3:53 PM:

" How would the Swedes and French feel if Absolut published a WW2 era map showing Nazi Germany's conquered territory which included almost all of Europe???
Too bad Mexico!!!! Why don't you give your land back to the Aztecs? "

Pastafarian wrote on Apr 8, 2008 2:05 PM:

" Get over yourselves people. This ad is harmless and it makes me want to purchase Absolute just to reward their creativity. Besides, take a look in your history books and discover the real reason for the Mexican-American war and the Texas fight for "independance", it was a land grab, plain and simple. Two words "Manifest Destiny" "
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