Mexican Absolut Ads Pulled

Absolut is in hot water over an ad which could be perceived as fact-based, or political.

The ad campaign in question depicts the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico. As those of us who were awake during US history class, there was a time in the early 1800's that Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. These territories were lost during the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence.

My family still talks about how my grandfather lost his ranchero, and all of his possessions to this war.

But the angry calls for a boycott of Absolut do not come from my relatives, the come from those who see the ads as a statement about the emotional debate over illegal immigration.

The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan "In an Absolut World," ran only in Mexico and have since ended. The Associated Press reports that 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.

From The Associated Press:
"

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.

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."