Mexico reconquers California? Absolut drinks to that!

The latest advertising campaign in Mexico from Swedish vodka maker Absolut promises to push all the right buttons south of the U.S. border, but it could ruffle a few feathers in El Norte.

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. (Texas actually split from Mexico several years earlier to form a breakaway republic, and was voluntarily annexed by the United States in 1846.)

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., which was not involved in the Absolut campaign.

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.”

Meanwhile, the campaign has been circulating on the blogs and generating strong responses from people north of the border.

“I find this ad deeply offensive, and needlessly divisive. I will now make a point of drinking other brands. And 'vodka and tonic' is my drink,” said one visitor, called New Yorker, on MexicoReporter.com.

Reader Paul Green goes into a discussion on the blog Gateway Pundit of whether the U.S. territories ever belonged to Mexico in the first place, and the News12 Long island site invited people to boycott Absolut, with one user, called LivingSmall, writing: “If you drink Absolut vodka, you can voice your approval or disapproval of this advertising campaign with your purchases. I know I will be switching to Grey Goose or Stoli and will never have another bottle of Absolut in my house.

“Hey Absolut ... that's my form of social commentary.”

-- Deborah Bonello and Reed Johnson in Mexico City

*No time to compose a comment on the "In an Absolut World according to Mexico" ad? Tell us what you think by voting here:

Comments

[jack]

i think this ad is digusting and its not fair? does this mean Hispanics and the Chinese are going to take over the world in 500 years??? or less?

[Rick Oliver]

You people take yourselves too seriously. It's an ad, and far from reality. Mexico lost the land in the war and that's that. We should have taken Baja California, too :)

[Miguel Marrufo]

I think that this comment section has evolved from what the original intention it was provided for. That being said, I would like to remind those of you who have made it a point to make this an issue of illegal aliens and as "JOE" put it, "eventually Americans are going to have had enough of the illegals and just start taking matters into their own hands"... One thing people seem to agree on is that border lines were moved from one country to become part of another. Now think about all the people FROM MEXICO who lived in California, New Mexico, Texas, Colorado, Utah, ARIZONA!!!!, Nevada... These people were all Mexicans who lived in the homes that they lived for possibly hundreds of years. And it wasn't Mexicans crossing borders, it was borders crossing Mexicans. And, yes, people in Arizona were all Mexican and they weren't profiled by the 'Green Party'.

Not all Mexicans are what people make them to be. My family was born in Mexico and I was born in the US. I have worked at Wells Fargo for many years and am now attending college with plans to go on to Law School. Maybe some people shouldn't be so quick to judge without knowing more about the people they are judging so harshly.

[Raul Valenzuela]

Wow! How would the Finnish have felt if there's an alcoholic beverage campaign depicting all the territory the USSR annexed just before World War II? My concern is not about the opinions expressed here, but rather, the lack of imagination of the designers of this ad campaign in order to capture more market. Let's see: Just because I'm Mexican I'll drink that vodka because that brand believes a "perfect" (that is, Absolut) world would be with all that territory under Mexican influence? That's as stupid as you can get. I mean, to appeal to some "national pride" in order to sell a product, is just plain stupid and dumb. If any of you researched a little, you'll actually find that we were not "victims" of the US, as our government has led us to believe. Santa Anna had a lot to do with is, he was not a good president (which one is?) and the situation in the northern territories had gone out of hand. Three Mexican states (Nuevo León, Coahuila and Tamaulipas) actually broke free from Mexico and formed the short-lived "República del Río Grande". Yucatán also tried to break free, because Santa Anna insisted on controlling everyting from the center of the country. So, "national pride"? GET OVER IT!!!!! (BTW, I'm proud to be Mexican)

[Sergio Valerio]

From now on, absolut is my favorite drink!!!
Why do americans feel offended?
Is it because you don't feel comfortable knowing the truth?
The truth about how the USA stole Texas from Mexico, placing americans in Texas saying that they just wanted a place to work and live, the only requisition was that immigrants had to be catholic, we trusted you... how could we have known your real intentions was to separate Texas from Mexico.
Why if the texans went to war with Mexico, "American" marines crossed the border stealthily to fight against the mexican army?
The USA provided guns, soldiers and strategies to the texan insurgence, but that is something you won't learn at school.
The truth is that America stole Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
It is because it was a plan of expansionism created by the USA goverment.
Thank god you americans kill each other in that civil war, because if it wasn't for that, the ALL MEXICO movement may have won, and only god knows what could have happened to Mexico, maybe we had become another Cuba, Panama or Puerto Rico.

[Lulu]

This is add is in poor taste and disrespect to the real parties involved. A swedish add for Vodka involves Mexico and the U.S. in very poor taste, I am Mexican American and I cannot judge what happen in the past between both of my countries, I have always felt blessed to be part of both. I will died for either country. So people stop blaming the Illegal population not all of them are Mexicans, and is not easy to come here from Mexico Legally like everyone makes the assumption, only countries like immigrants from Cuba or Europe can come here Legally with VISAs. Let the past rest and live in the Now, the governor has screws us over and over and no one has had the guts to recalled him, or the other politicians that are here stealing the money of everyone like the Bell city counsel members. Keep in touch with the real reality, while you busy blaming the illegals, your goverment if screwing you over.

[otheroneone]

ABSOLUTELY NEVER.

[Omar Torrez]

Joe,
This article was run in Mexico, NOT IN THE US. ILLEGAL ALIENS HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH #1. VODKA, #2. SWEDISH AD CAMPAIGNS IN MEXICO.

GET OVER IT. MEXICO IS NOT ABOUT "ILLEGAL WORKERS." WRONG FORUM BUDDY. TRY ANOTHER RELEVANT FORUM.

[Joe]

I will never drink Absolut again. As far as the USA taking Mexican land, that is how just about every single country in the world was formed. People from 2 different lands had a war, and the winner took the land. The world was like that for a thousand years. GET OVER IT. If Mexico still had CA and TX and the other states, Mexico would have screwed them up anyway. Oh and Nick, eventually Americans are going to have had enough of the illegals and just start taking matters into their own hands. If the US government refuses to do anything, the people will. The Arizona law WILL pass, and once again your people will have to flee. Why? Because instead of coming to America the right and legal way, they take the illegal way and just cross the border.

[Nick Monarez]

I happen to stumble on to this,AND I AM GOING TO START DRINKING THIS VODKA!!!I been reading,and some of you dont realies that mexico wouldnt be a poor nation if we wouldnt of lost california with all its gold,texas with all it oil!!The way you invaded OUR land,WE ARE SLOWLY BUT SURELY TAKING IT BACK!!

[Omar Torrez]

davdi:

The reason illegal workers come here is to make money. This economic class of Mexicans struggles to find work in their homeland and AMERICAN EMPLOYERS HIRE THEM. Thus, they are economic refugees whose migration between our two countries is driven by market forces.

They do NOT come to America because, as you so eloquently put it, "Their countries suck." Mexico is a GREAT place to live if you have a good job. My cousins in Puebla have good careers and would never think of moving to the US.

[davdi]

My question to the lefties in the forum is this, Is LA/California a better state now that the latino population has gone up? I mean everybody wants to talk about how racist it is to criticize Hispanics but really why is it that you glorify your culture so much yet you are for some reason are in America?

Lets get one thing straight, the reason you are in AMERICA is because your countries sucked to begin with, and all that multicultural relativist propoganda is going to do is turn America into something that resembles those countires you or your parents left years ago.

[TheVictor]

Duped Tax Payer, I can totally understand your fear of Spanish since you clearly have yet to come anywhere near a mastery of English. By the way, is it a rule that conservatives now must be loud mouthed, ignorant, jingoistic, racists? Seriously, way to ham-fistedly indict Mexicans as the only reason Cali is bankrupt. I know, you conservatives don't like to deal in complexity which is why you are conservative in the first place, but the problem is multifaceted. Turn of the talk radio and pick up some books, you might learn something for once.

[Omar Torrez]

@ Duped tax Payer:
Before you are, "forced," to learn Spanish, I suggest you review your ENGLISH skills. You FAILED TO WRITE ONE SINGLE SENTENCE without egregious spelling and grammatical errors! That is embarrassing.

Naturally your convoluted, unlettered, inarticulate, bigoted, emotionally histrionic whining does NOT deserve a response.
Peace,

[Duped Tax Payer]

Happening already. Armies of illegal and legal Mexican are crossing over and by slowing bankrupting the state to a point California simply gives up. Where else on this planet can you get a developed country for fee? Of course the liberals can't see that far. Soon we will be force to learn Spanish.

[scot]

No more Absolut for me.

[Hernán Martínez]

It is true, the land is now property of the United States. Nevertheless, mexicans are somehow regaining it, so maybe it will happen. Maybe it is some kind of joke destiny is playing on americans. It is indeed the survival of the fittest, it is a fight many immmigrants are winning because they have one single characteristic many americans are now lacking: they want to work.

[Anthony]

While I agree the United States should not have "stolen" the western states from Mexico, I have to admit I'm glad they did.

Otherwise I'd be living in the same conditions and experiencing the same level of violence and corruption they do south of the border! Whew!

[Colony14Author]

I'll go back to Germany when the Mexicans return to Spain.

[babushka]

Hey maki - does that history book you picked up include the part where Mexico LOST the war? It is? May I suggest you pick up a dictionary and look up "LOST"?

[costa ric condos]

I liked the issue, I shared with my family and friends has helped me a lot, thank you very much!

[maki]

the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was a fat, middle finger to Mexico. I love this ad campaign. Absolut is always progressive and on the side of common sense. How would all of you feel if some new, foreign government came in and suddenly claimed that the land you and your family live on was theirs? take up a historical book people. don't be so ignorant. VIVA LA RAZA! VIVA MEXICO!!!

[Jagexxx]

Of course an Absolut ad aimed at the US market would have the land to the south of us pictured as a nuked wasteland.

[Joe88a]

@ HR
Absolut is Swedish brand not German.
Absolut-ely, in very bad taste!

[HR]

They should put a map of what the Greman territory would look like today if America never came to their rescue...Perhaps "Absoult" wouldn't be so Absolut would it?