Absolut's Left-Wing Liquor
By Michelle Malkin
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Is it wise for a global beverage company to pander to radical politics
while alienating a much wider consumer base?
Absolut, the Swedish-owned vodka maker, apparently drinks to that.
Last week, my e-mailbox lit up with messages from readers and fellow
bloggers about a new Absolut ad catering to Mexican drinkers who
believe the American Southwest belongs to them. (That extreme
ethno-supremacist idea, of course, is not news to anyone who has paid
attention to the massive illegal alien marches of the past two years
-- where "This is our continent, not yours" has been a rallying
mainstay.) As part of its "In an Absolut World" campaign in print
magazines and on billboards, the company featured a large color photo
of a redrawn map of the continental United States. The ad imposed
pre-1848 borders on America, with Mexico swallowing up California,
Texas, New Mexico, Utah, Colorado and Arizona.
Here's how Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading U.S. Latino
advertising agency Grupo Gallegos, which was not involved in the
Absolut campaign, explained the reconquista-endorsing ad to the Los
Angeles Times: "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."
Oops. Guess he didn't get the liberal talking points manual: You're
supposed to deny that reconquista exists and label anyone who
criticizes it as a delusional racist. And remember: The National
Council of La Raza ("the race") claims that reconquista is just a
"code word" invented by conservative "hate groups" who are dreaming
the whole thing up.
Reader Paul Hergert wrote to Absolut: "Your company's illustration of
Mexico occupying a large part of the western United States is
reprehensible for myriad reasons. Not only is it an anachronistic and
ersatz view of geography, it also unnecessarily inflames
American/Mexican tensions. I understand that marketing is to be
provocative, but when it can be used as propaganda for certain
people/nations, it has crossed the line into the political realm and
is, therefore, inappropriate."
Bar owner Matthew Rogers of Pt. Richmond, Calif., sent this note to
the company: "I run a bar in Pt. Richmond. … After seeing your ad
campaign where you show a western map of the United States in which
California is part of Mexico again, I've decided to do the following:
1) Never carry Absolut. Ever; 2) Lower the price of Ketel One vodka to
$2 a shot indefinitely to build loyalty; 3) Print a copy of your ad
and put it above the Ketel One drink special; 4) Tell all my friends
and family what Absolut thinks of the United States of America and our
right to enforce border laws. I am on the frontline of illegal
immigration and its effects. Where are you? Oh, yes, Sweden. Good
riddance."
Absolut's initial response to complaints was to hang up on consumers
who phoned and to delete their e-mail without bothering to read it.
But the controversy spread like a California wildfire stoked by
Internet Santa Ana winds. In the first of two statements, Absolut Vice
President of Cor****ate Communications Paula Eriksson attempted to
douse the flames by touting the company's embrace-diversity ethos. "As
a global company," she pedantically intoned, "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.
Obviously, this ad was run in Mexico, and not the U.S. -- that ad
might have been very different."
That arrogant, p.c. sanctimony had the effect of pouring gas on the
flames. So over the weekend, Eriksson issued a new statement
announcing withdrawal of the ad. It was comically titled "We
apologize" -- and disingenuously argued that "In no way was the ad
meant to offend or disparage, or advocate an altering of borders, lend
sup****t to any anti-American sentiment, or to reflect immigration
issues. …This is a genuine and sincere apology."
For its part, the open-borders Associated Press attempted to minimize
the widespread opposition to the Absolut ad from Americans and
persisted in labeling reconquista views "fringe." I direct them to the
speech given two weeks ago in San Bernardino by Hillary Clinton
campaign co-chair Dolores Huerta, who railed, "We didn't cross the
border, the border crossed us" and gloated that immigration
enforcement is moot because the reconquista is won. "It's really too
late," Huerta said. "If 47 million (Latinos) have one baby each … it's
already won."
Maybe Absolut should hire Huerta as its next spokesperson.
Fresh off its Aztlan debacle, the company announced its newest
campaign this week featuring an ad titled "Ruler," described as "a
humorous look at gay men and their fascination with perfect,
eight-inch 'member' measurements."
The company doesn't seem to have grasped that left-wing identity
politics and liquor don't mix.
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