Thanks guys! Absolut listened

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080408/us_ ... absolut_dc


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The distillers of Sweden's Absolut vodka have withdrawn an advertisement run in Mexico that angered many U.S. citizens by idealizing an early 19th century map showing chunks of the United States as Mexican.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)

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"Instead, it hearkens to a time which the population of Mexico may feel was more ideal," she wrote.

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Uhh, that was definitely NOT an apology.

Will they be doing an ad on which the Palestinians "may feel" was a more ideal time for them??

That is NOT an apology! They are DEFENDING their ad.

I think they should do an ad in the US showing Baja California owned by the USA. I think that would only be fair and since we're not suppose to be mad at the current ad, then the Mexicans shouldn't be mad if the ad promoted us owning Baja California. :wink:

1. This is not an apology.

2. The Mexican Ad agency and the person that approved this ad for Absolut should all be fired!

3. They did not say they pulled the Ad to apologize, they are saying the Ad has already run its course!

Lets get em please visit and post at

www.boycottabsolut.com

and

Boycott Absolute Vodka over Mexico Ad on Lou Dobbs CNN Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Oi7JEObPVA


W

They can offer these so called "apologies" all they want as it will not change the fact they ran the adds in the first place which sems to suggest to me they are sympathetic to the reconquista movement.

These add companies spend a ton on money on research and marketing. As such, they must have come to some conclusion this ad was something that mexicans identified and agreed with. Nobody within Absolut had the intelligence (or stones) to stand up and say this may not be the best ad to run considering the repercussions it may have with our American Market(what, they didn't think we were going to find out).

So abslout can offer any and all apologies they want, but it will not change the fact they ran the add. I suspect they are sorry they got caught running the ad, and not sorry for the message the ad conveyed.

It would have worked better for a Mexican regional budget brand of mezcal or pulque trying to go national. For an international brand of vodka withsales in the United States it was definitely a mistake.

I read on Michelle Malkin's website that those involved in making the ad were fired and there was a real apology (well as real as it can be)...

Hello, I was in Mexico recently (Jan 08 ) with a legal passport and each room at the RIU Hotel had 4 guart bottles of spirits supplied for anyone who wanted it at any time they wanted it, also I could walk to any bar behind the hotel for liquor and not one time did I see any brand of American made bottles or any Absolut either. They do sell it in liquor stores there to Americans and anyone who wants it but do you really think that Mexicans can afford it? Not the ones who live there!

"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.



It doesn't matter if the ad was meant to offend or disparage. The point is that the ad DID offend and disparage.

It also may not have been meant to advocate alteration of borders or lend support to anti-American sentiment but the fact is that it DID. They targeted a group of people who have been literally raised for generations being taught that their land was "stolen", that all of what the United States is, and our prosperity, could have been theirs were it not for this one <cough> "fact", that we are the cause of all of their ills, and it is their job to take first the SW, and then the entire continent, over in the name of Mexico and Mexicans.

While the print ad may have been directed at an upper class with enough education to understand both the text and context of such an ad, the billboards were viewed by millions who, with little or no education, only saw and understood what the graphic of the map portrayed.

There was not one bit of consideration given to the fact that both the Mexican government and so called advocacy groups like LaRaza will seize upon every opportunity presented to use as "proof" that they are right about this issue and fully supported in their agenda. For Absolut to have been advertised in this manner is, in their minds, a ringing endorsement and will be treated as such no matter what the company may have intended.

This company screwed up and in a big way. It was, at the least, irresponsible and they owe us more than what we've gotten from them.

What they've offered is not an apology but a PR attempt at damage control.