Have you seen this? Michelle Malkin has .
.
From the :
The billboard and press campaign, created by advertising agency Teran\TBWA and now running in Mexico, is a colorful map depicting what the Americas might look like in an “Absolut” — i.e., perfect — world.
The U.S.-Mexico border lies where it was before the Mexican-American war of 1848 when California, as we now know it, was Mexican territory and known as Alta California.
Following the war, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo saw the Mexican territories of Alta California and Santa Fé de Nuevo México ceded to the United States to become modern-day California, Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.
The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S.
Ucedo, who is from Argentina, said: “Mexicans talk about how the Americans stole their land, so this is their way of reclaiming it. It’s very relevant and the Mexicans will love the idea.”
But he said that were the campaign to run in the United States, it might fall flat.
“Many people aren’t going to understand it here. Americans in the East and the North or in the center of the county — I don’t know if they know much about the history.
“Probably Americans in Texas and California understand perfectly and I don’t know how they’d take it.”
Being a Texan, I’m taking it as…Mexicans are sore losers, maybe? Couldn’t get their shit together in 1848 and can’t get it together now. So there.
And how does this campaign tap in to Mexican national pride, of all things? I’d say it’s quite the opposite, clinging to a time 160 years ago when they had all that land and lost it. I wouldn’t be real proud of that, is all I’m saying.
And it also makes me wonder for the trillionth time exactly how much history they’re teaching down there and whether Mexicans generally accept that they’re descendants of Europeans who came to the New World, stole the land from the natives, and interbred with them, producing modern Middle and South Americans.
Anyway. Lots of people have been emailing and calling Absolut to complain, and they’re mostly being ignored, for now. Malkin has examples. God, I love the internet. Nobody can get away with anything stupid for long.
Why would Mexicans want more territory anyway?
They can’t even take care of the shit they have. If they got that territory back, we’d just have to start building a border fence in Oregon. On their end, they’d be better off giving us the rest of their territory (which personally, I don’t want).
I saw that yesterday and just shook my head. It’s so stupid. What genius in their marketing department thought that would be a good PR campaign? They should be fired.
Screw up. Give me a bottle of Jim Beam and I’m a happy camper.
Dear Rachel,
When you are Empress of the World, will you serve the Mexicans a big fat helping of Shut The Hell Up?
I’ll gauge this as nothing more than a marketing hack with an agenda. Unfortunately, it will soon be on t-shirts sold in Santa Ana, Nogales and Laredo. I can only assume this marketing guy was a member of MEChA at San Diego State.
¡Aztlán es nuestro!
The funny thing is, no one in Mexico drinks vodka. Everyone knows that’s a Tecate/Dos Equis/Tequila/e Coli water country, right?
Other rejected Absolut ads:
– A Union Jack on the US, circa 1779
– A French Europe, including Russia, ca. 1805
– A Spanish globe (sans Brasil) ca. 1530
– A muslim Iberia, ca. 715
It shows how the LA Times doesn’t know their history, either. Texas was independent since 1836, so that map shows how Mexico looked before that year, not before 1848. The treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo had nothing to do with adding Texas to the US.
This just in: The Aztecs want Mexico back.
That’s it. I’m never buying this product again.
Ah, the power of choice combined with the power of the internet.
By the way, there are some GREAT vodkas made right here in the good ol’ U. S. of A.
Isn’t Stoli owned by Absolut? I sure hope not, because while I don’t drink vodka often I do like Stoli.
If this were the case, then a lot of Mexicans would freeze to death crossing the border in winter. California, Nevada etc are rich because of the human capital (which certainly includes many [former] Mexicans) and the rules and trust based system of laws and economic policies of the USA – not because Nevada desert is inherently so much better than the desert over the border in actual Mexico.
Screw Absolut, screw Nuevo Aztlan; support Texas, buy Tito’s vodka (made in Austin).
Viva Wild Turkey! Buy American!
I’ll stick with Scotch and bourbon thank you very much.
I’ve often thought we should have spanked Mexico a lot harder in 1916, after the raid on Columbus, NM. Sort of like what the Russians did to Germany to show their appreciation for Fall Barbarossa.
This ad gives me beautiful visions of Pershing’s army just outside Mexico City, doing unto Mexico City what Zhukov did unto Berlin…with artillery.
As a former Texan, let me be the first in this thread to tell ABOSLUT (sp. intentional) that they have lost me as a customer FOREVER.
Ok, they never really had me in the first place as most vodka is , but as a former Texan I am absolutely enraged at ABOSLUT’s slap in the face to that fine independent and sovereign nation, the . What they show was not the “Mexican/US border” in 1848, as it shows the Republic of Texas as being part of Mexico, which it was NOT.
It’s a good thing I like my Jack Daniels so much. If that map were true now I’d be living right on the border—and I’d be building my own fence, complete with sentry towers, spotlights, and a sniper (me.) It wouldn’t be any damned virtual fence either, although the geek in me would come up with something automated–like infrared seeking lasers or the like. Then again, a trebuchet would be fun to build. I’m going to start boiling some oil….
To paraphrase PJ O’Rourke — the Mexicans aren’t pissed we took half the country, they’re pissed we took the half with the good roads.
Fuck it. Let’s take the rest of the country. We could use the oil, and they could use our administrative skills.
*Everyone’s* up about this now– found it over at Misha’s place as well. With a link to a comment by a Mexican-born commentator who has a lot of love for the US and a fair amount of common sense.
That being said– can anyone confirm the rumor that Absolut was bought by Pernod Ricard USA? Someone on Michelle’s site mentioned that, but the PRUSA website does not show Absolut as one of its brands. Just as well, because I like a lot of what they *do* show, and I’d hate to give up drinking all the good stuff too.
P.J. O’Rourke once quoted a Mexican who explained that Mexico was poor because America stole half the country.
“And not only that, you stole the half with all the paved roads!”
…Damn you, Seppo…
I like better.
Shouldn’t the text read “En un Mundo Absolut” if it is supposed to run in Mexico?
Gah… I won’t be buying any more absolut products from now on. Tito’s from Austin, you say? I’m there! Just hope I can find some in Oklahoma, cause if not, I’m screwed. Stupid liquor laws….
Got no use for vodka. This Austro-Germano-Russian prefers The Glenlivet, or Maker’s Mark.
The thing is, even if they took it back, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. Ten years down the road it would look just like Mexico — Spanish-speaking, run down, dilapidated, poor, and looking to export the revolution farther north.
IF they were aiming this ad at Mexican’ts why the HELL is the ad in English…It should be in Spanish.
Flippin’ wankers.
And don’t forget all the fine vodka products made by McCormick’s in Weston, Missouri. Just look for the Weston in itty bitty letters on the bottle, and otherwise ignore the brand. It’s pretty much all the same anyway. Ethanol and water.
Not sure I like that, living in the North and East and all…like we don’t pay attention in our history classes to anything that took place west of the Adirondack Mountains. Hmph!
That said, if someone wants to talk about land being taken away – let’s change that map to reflect Native American lands. Predates the poor Mexicans by quite a bit, at least here in the Northeast.
Then again, many people in the South, Midwest and West may not understand it because they don’t know much about the history.
:-)
There’s a vodka made in Oklahoma. Can’t remember the name though. They carry it at my local liquor store in Edmond, Oklahoma. I’m sure you can find it NinjaFluff
Erin_Coda: Sorry for your loss, but
Commenter on Malkin’s site had it.
Found it! Apparently it won second place as best tasting vodka one year.
If they don’t like the outcome of the war, we could have a do-over.
Always amazed at how many people overseas believe that prosperity is the natural state of things in North America and if they lived there it would happen to them too. They act like we have no right to what we’ve earned. They fail to realize it’s the people that make the country what it is, not the other way around.
This is one of those items posters here annoyance I can understand, but, really, there isn’t going to be much impact on Absolut from them. Folks here, they are seeking texture, experience, flavor etc. Vodka is valued for its lack of that.
El Tesoro anejo? Si.
Lagavulin? Aye.
Absolut? Eh? what? nononono.
Still, we should nuke the moon anyway.
hmmmm…
screw it. Lets’ annex mexico. Turn our 1500 mile long border into a 200 mile border w/Belize and Guatamaula (sp?)
Hell, while we’re annexing… let’s absorb Canada too. LEBLAT beer ain’t that bad. But the French can keep Quebec: we sure as hell don’t want it.
And who would care if we annexed/absorbed our neighbors… it ain’t like most of them are here in the USA already.
Fits in nicely with the print and billboard campaign presently going on in San Fransisco declaring that city a ‘sanctuary’ for illegal aliens. WTF.
If I showed my Mexican-born Dad that advert he’d freak. (Translated from the Spanish with substituded expletive) “‘the FUCK?! Now I have to move further north? I left Mexico because it sucked and it’s following me!”
This is pandering to sore losers. The Mexican equivalent of the guys who fly Confederate flags…”Dude…you got your ass kicked in the 1860s…give it up and join the Union already.”
Well, one thing is for sure. If the Muslims take over Spain, the Spanish can move to “the new world” and take over Mexico. It isn’t any better politically organized or militarily capable of defeating the Spanish now, any more than it was in the 1500’s.
And, the population is already trained in Spanish as their native language! And, to think the Spanish haven’t owned Mexico as a colony in over 150 years! Now THAT is staying power!
Oh, and if you think Mexico has its political and military/paramilitary shat together, just take a look at what the drug gangs are doing inside of Mexico. And, in downtown L.A., for that matter.
Here in California, the “reconquista” movement is alive and well. Everyone here is familiar with the slogan “we didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.” There are many actual Americans of Mexican descent here who want to give CA (and the rest of “Aztlan”) back to Mexico. It’s insane, but true.
Sorry folks – Pernod is the second largest beverage brand in the world. They own lots of brands.
Wild Turkey? Yep.
Maker’s Mark? Uh huh.
Glenlivet? Right again.
Stoli? You betcha.
Check the wiki for the complete list.
Thanks, Jennifer! that’s just a short drive from Warr Acres :-)
The fallacy in the argument of “give Aztlan back” to Mexico is that it was paid for ($15M for lands non-Texan, which was won fair and square on the field of battle not by America, but by TEXAS; plus a major OVER-payment for the God-forsaken scrubland through which a railroad passed known as the Gadsden Purchase).
There’s already a term for that sort of behavior in the English vernacular, and it doesn’t involve a slur against Mexico–nor should it involve Mexico. I’ve lived in Mexico and for the most part, the parts I lived in weren’t doing all that great a job managing themselves. Of course, when I moved to California, I noticed a striking similarity between the crummy parts of Hermosillo, Irapuato, the D.F. and Santa Ana/East L.A./Moreno Valley. It’s eerily the same mess.
Don’t get me started on the ni de aqui ni de alli border towns, either. Yikes.
if this ad was really aimed at Mexicanos … it would be a comic book, rather than having text … most of them cannot spell “x”
I’ve got a better map- one that has pretty much all our territory, plus a couple hundred miles “resort area” for the US, and the rest is labeled “Beyond this Point Lawn Mowers Roam”, or “Land of Gardeners”, or “Ai! Ai! Ai!” or “Keepers of the Sheers” or some such.
La Raza Aztlan, which means in Spanish “Those of the landscaping race”, means to expand its irredentist ambitions in the exact same way Hitler did, if only he’d thought to make the force the rest of the world to accept busboys.
The State of New Mexico Department of Education has mandated that all 9th graders study New Mexico history. Okay, fair enough. The first essay I assign is called “New Mexico’s Triple Cultural Heritage.” I have the kids make three columns listing the various contributions of each group. Under “Anglo” we have the following: public health, railroads, telegraph, rule of law, (functional) democracy, and citizenship. In a word, modernity. The contrast to life under Spain and then Mexico could not be more extreme.
I’m really enjoying the random sidebar ads on this post, Rachel.
“MexicanCupid.com” Heh heh…how about “misrepresentacionprofunda.mx?” or “enfermedadsexual.info?”
Heh heh…Friday afternoons…heh heh…must. get. outside.
I guess in an Absolut world we’d have 40% unemployment and citizens fleeing by the millions.
What is it with this nonsense about how we “stole” their land? Especially Texas. How exactly did we “steal” Texas?
’tis very simple really.
They had a large area of land with which they were doing damned near squat.
We BOUGHT it from them.
We made a great deal from it.
Now they want the stuff that we have created in those places.
/Ben Stein voice on/
Question: Even if we were to give it all back (without demanding a refund with interest), does anyone really think it would be worth a damn in ten years time? Anyone? Anyone?
/Ben Stein voice off/
They just want to loot it. Hell, they are doing it already, in probably the most effective way. By NOT taking possesion, they continue to bleed the area and yet leave it productive. A testament to our productivity, not their management.
Vampire bats, tapeworms, parasites!
NathanBrindle and Fargus– thanks for the info.
Dammit, dammit, dammit from the bottom of my spleen. :(
At least I can still drink Smirnoff, and use the infamous 3-buck Chuck to make a couple vats of sangria…
Bucking the trend here, I might just buy a half-dozen bottles of this swill. Not large ones, mind you.
No, I’ll not imbibe ’em.
But I will take ’em to the range, and video their demise with .357, .45ACP and 7.62 NATO mixers.
Hmmm… 7.62 NATO. I might just use the tracer at dusk. [marvinthemartian]”It will make a very loud KA-BOOM!”[/marvinthemartian]
An Absolut blast, if you get my drift.
Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Pernod sold Makers Mark to Fortune – so it’s ok. And they also sold the Domecq brandies – thankfully. Also Laphroigh.
I personally prefer wine…
Absolut Bullshit. You fought a war. You lost. Suck it.
If you like vodka — or even if you think you don’t — check out . I keep a bottle of their Mandarin Blossom in the freezer. It is all natural and incredibly intense. Come to think of it, excuse me a moment…
It’s been Kettle One for me for along time now. California is ruined already, the Reconquista’s now run the entire state. Just .
This just occurred to me.
This is a Mexican billboard. The Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and United States are all written in Spanish. But the slogan (“In An Absolut World”) is written in English.
Strange.
Ethanol and water=vodka. No flavor. Has to be added. Ergo, it is all bottle and label and a heavy dose of propaganda.
The vodka section is huge in liquor stores. All of it is just ethanol and water and some have a few oils added. But you can pay designer prices just like the bottled water market.
OK, so Absolut has screwed up in selling its ethanol and water. Fine, move on to another name selling ethanol and water. Apparently there is a price niche that captures a Vodka drinker’s taste buds. It has to be a price niche, because ethanol and water has zero taste.
If it is the liver wrecking, hangover creating oils that some designers add that have the brand loyalty stoked, then buy grain and drop some oils in it. It is all very simple chemistry after the heavy lifting has been done during distillation. Vodka drinkers kid themselves like no others.
mightysamurai: that’s just part of Teran’s “disruption” and “asking the tough questions that lead to new results.” See? Their ad is “tough” (for Mexicans to understand) and they’re looking to lead to new results (like getting them speak English for when the reconquista de aztlan is complete).
Apparently “Ingles sin barreras” isn’t working as well as those informercials would have you believe.
Want to make a statement? Buy Wodka Wyborowa, from Poland (hint: W is pronounced “V” in Polish. Try it).
The way I see it, the Poles are the anti-Mexicans. Mexico: Spoonfed by the U.S. for a hundred years and still can’t get their shit together. Poland: Bled dry by Soviet communism until just a few years ago and already a major player on the post-communist European chessboard.
And take it from a longtime vodka conoisseur: Wyborowa beats the living piss outta Absolut anyway, vodka-wise.
That’s because it’s not for the Spanish speaking people, it’s for the Americans to read and feel either threatened or guilty.
I feel neither. I do however feel a little rage bubbling under the surface.
I feel only an urge to shake my fist toward the south and say, “Suck it, Mexico!” Losers. Mexico’s own citizens don’t find Mexico all that grand or they wouldn’t be running away all the time.
Anyone ever had Tarkuna vodka? It was infused with a Russian mint called tarkuna. It was ~ 8 bucks a fifth in 92. It was delicious. Straight out of the freezer, straight out of the bottle, straight to the brain. And like the grand finale to a kick ass fireworks show, the next day it made poop cool as hell. Like the payoff after a nasty sinus infection starts to clear up. The colors are something you just won’t see on any other diet. Fucking awesome going in & even cool flushing away. Lots of bang for the buck.
Speaking of bang for the buck, has anyone taken the cheap stuff and triple, quadruple or multiply filtered it in a Brita pitcher?
Unless I am drinking a classic martini, the quality of the vodka is really a non issue. The quality of my mixer is critical.
At any rate, fuck Absolut. After this, I’d rather get some Popov 110 and run it through my Brita several times. Do a tasting based on memory. See if I notice the difference. “Taste” some more. Then I’ll ask myself if I give a shit.
The is real and has been going on for some while.
Dudes, I’ve been saying for a long time we need to just take them over, and like the other guy said, then we’d only have a 200 mile border instead of what we have. And then my vacation in Cozumel wouldn’t cost so much, hell, I could drive to Cabo San Lucas. It would be good.
Hey Ronin.
Hundredth monkey here.
Google translated this for me:
Los EE.UU. deberían anexo Mexico!
&
Los Estados Unidos de América debe anexo Mexico!
While we’re at it, let’s plant a flag in Baghdad and name that motherfucker East Virginia, USA.
What would anyone do? Code Pink would protest the Marines? K. Here is what you have said we are, you just gave us the idea. Now fuck off.
I say strike while the iron is hot.
Let’s show ’em what “imperialists” are capable of.
If I run, can I count on everyone’s vote? I hear it is up for grabs.
That’d be something. A cinderalla story. Turd Ferguson. DMT addict and Rachel Lucasite. Write in candidate, wins by a landslide.
Turd — sign me up. We can host a reality show called “Who wants to be a state?”
If people insist on calling us an empire, let’s show them what a real empire can do. Bend over, chalk up.
As Japan and Poland will attest, it’s better to be nuked by America than to be embraced by America’s enemies. We really are that much better than everyone else. Just sayin’.
On a more serious note, I’ve got a question for all you reconquistas out there: let’s say the map on this ad were to become true. Specifically, which of Mexico’s chronic and endemic problems would this solve? The corruption? The crappy economy? The lack of education? The triumph of machismo over personal responsibility?
My God, it’s the 21st century. Do you really believe that wealth still flows from land? If so, please talk to Singapore. Or, if that’s not convincing, try Russia. Russia spans eleven time zones. Surely having that much land has led to prosperity and freedom in a workers’ paradise.
On the other hand, imposing our health standards on Mexico would effectively ruin traditional Mexican food. Or so I’ve been told.
Just sayin’…
I found a neat website from a link at
It’s called , and that’s exactly what it is. It’s a weird and delightful site, and oddly addictive.
As Stephen Green said, “Click and scroll. Just click and scroll.”
Fox News just showed that Absolut has apologized, to avoid boycotts. Too late. Hubby always orders an Absolut Maritini up when we go out. No more.
Absolut Stupidity. Absolut Morons.
“Okay, mis hermanos. Other than roads, sanitation, aqueducts, medicine, modern agriculture, law and order, and electricity—WHAT have the Anglos ever done for us?”
—Monty Python’s Life of Jose
Jeff: that made me think of the old SNL sketch called “Who Wants to Eat a Meal?” The contestants (Christina Ricci) answered questions for progressively more food…starting with a bowl of rice.
Rickl: addictive indeed.
Uh, if they based the map on the number of Mexican citizens living in the United States now, I think maybe they went a little light on the green.
Off the wall: Does anyone else find it strange that the only Texans at the Alamo were Mexicans?
@ Turd Ferguson:
Had some of the exotic buffalo grass & whatall vodkas several years ago when I lived in NYC. Interesting, but not my cup of “V”. Is Tarkuna one of those types?
A Russian business associate gave me a bottle of Russian Standard the last time he visited America. It’s very strong and a bit harsh (I think it could use your Brita filtering procedure) but is it ever great for a straight up, just out of the freezer belt! No wonder the Russians keep that stuff for themselves.
For vodka martinis, I prefer Belvedere (Polish). It’s a good thing I don’t drink very often because it’s pretty expensive.
Indulge moderately.
And like I said on some other blog the other day, I could halfway understand this ad (leaving out the bit that Mexico was settled by Europeans and stole land down there as Rachel pointed out) if it was an ad for, say, Jose Cuervo.
But vodka?
I don’t know too many friends of Mexican ancestry that drink vodka. Which leads me to ask just WTF their ad agency was thinking when they came up with this concept.
gd,
I misspelled it. It was Tarkhuna. I searched Takhuna vodka and found a good story about the stuff here:
I’m not familiar with the drinks you are talking about. But I guess they might be similar.
Are you thinking they could be similar because of the way ya pooped the next day?
I have looked for the Tarkhuna a few times since then but I haven’t found it anywhere. Because it was cheap and delicious, not because of the incredible turds.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
Am I the only one here who’d be happy to give Kalifornia back to ’em?
tf—
Ha-ha! Actually, it was your reference to the vodka’s color and the mint. The type I was thinking of is Zubrowka, and is also called bison grass vodka.
Just got back from taking one of my Pomeranians to the vet. Let me simply say the dog has a “delicate” condition, and leave it at that. The upshot is that I’ve had all the discussions I care to have about poo today.
Thanks for the link … great story.
Gotta love mexico. They had Sam Houston’s army trapped with it’s back to a river and outnumbered 3 to 1 on April 21st. What do they do? Take their seista! The Texicans come streeming out of their lines at them and capture most of them unarmed. Santa Ana wasn’t even in uniform.
If you made up a fiction story with that in it today I bet it would be called racist. I loved ‘Little Green Footballs’ thoughts on this.
Absolut has posted an apology. Sorry suckers, too little, too late. I’m still boycotting your stuff.