Absolut Nonsense
Posted April 3rd, 2008 at 1:50 PM by Jeff A. Taylor
The Uptown paper of record’s advertising alliance with a Spanish publisher gets a belated shout out from the paper’s Spanish blog just as an interesting ad currently running in the Quien magazine is making waves.
The Reconquista theme is running wild, it seems. It is on billboards as well. Do they really think there would not be a blowback on sort of thing? Maybe not a major one, but why look dopey if you do not have to?
Makes me wonder if we’ll see the ad in some McClatchy pub in the near future.
Bonus Observation: Turns out there is a Bank of America angle in the marriage between McClatchy and Impremedia. Wonder of wonders.
Via Right Angles.
April 3rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm
In an Absolut world, ad execs would know better than to do stupid crap like this. If they were looking for a way to reduce the size of their consumer base, they sure found one.
Here is a list of products from V&S, the company which produces Absolut:
Absolut (vodka)
Level (vodka)
Frïs (vodka)
Luksusowa (vodka)
Aquavit (spirits)
Gammel Dansk Bitter Dram (bitters)
Cruzan Rum (rum)
Minttu (peppermint liqueur)
Plymouth Gin (gin)
Nordic Partners, California White & California Red, Blossa Glögg, Chill Out, Chymos, Opal Springs, Santa Christina (wines)
I strongly encourage you to boycott these products and to tell your friends, family, bar buddies, and bartenders to stop using these products. I have a bottle of Frïs in my freezer at home and it will be thrown out tonight.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
Cruzan Rum is made in St.Croix, USVI.
Don’t quote me, but I think it’s like the #3 or #4 employer of a relatively poor, but nice place to live if you actually have money, tropical island.
#1 is the government (maybe that’s including Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority? A “governmental instrumentality”, which actually is supposed to mean something important, but really just sounds funny and is a pain to deal with).
#2 is the HOVENZA oil refinery (a joining of Hess Oil and the Venezualan government).
Don’t boycott Cruzan Rum and cause the Virgin Island government (the brothers, sisters, cousins, inlaws, friends, etc of those already in gov’t jobs) to hire more people to keep the labor percentages up! Yes, they really do that there…
Anyway, it is a nice place to go. But just easy to get aggravated with the politics.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:46 pm
FWIW, Vin & Spirit Group (which is owned by the government of Sweden) just sold out to Pernod Ricard for $9b. Hopefully their first shot will be to nix this offensive campaign.
April 3rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm
Hopefully their first shot will be to nix this offensive campaign.
For me, at least, this particular bell cannot be unrung.
April 3rd, 2008 at 4:27 pm
As always, stay American… Jim Beam and Jack Daniels at all times.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Knob Creek. Neat. Thanks.
April 3rd, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Just dumped the remainder of a bottle of Cruzan down the sink. Always thought it was kinda sh*tty anyway.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Gentleman Jack, rocks.
April 3rd, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Absolut Vodka Sells Out US To Reconquista Mexico For A Buck
Absolut Vodka is the latest company to sell out the United States and pander to the reconquistas who are fighting for Aztlan (the retaking of the Southwest of the United States). This latest attack on the sovereignty of the…
April 6th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Well, I heard back from Absolut atfer I complained to them. Their response:
Dear Clay,
We understand your concerns and we are sorry that you feel the way you feel. This was not our intention, as we try to explain in our statement. Though you may not agree, I hope you understand.
The In An Absolut World advertising campaign invites consumers to visualize a world that appeals to them — one they feel may be more idealized or one that may be a bit “fantastic.” As such, the campaign will elicit varying opinions and points of view. We have a variety of executions running in countries worldwide, and each is germane to that country and that population.
This particular ad, which ran in Mexico, was based upon historical perspectives and was created with a Mexican sensibility. 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. Instead, it hearkens to a time which the population of Mexico may 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. Obviously, this ad was run in Mexico, and not the US — that ad might have been very different.
Best regards,
Erika Gelinder
Consumer contacts
V&S Absolut Spirits
My response back to her:
Hello Erika,
As the old saying goes, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” I don’t really care what your intention was; I care what you did. Do you understand that there is no such thing as a “local” ad campaign anymore? When you run an ad in one place, everyone everywhere will almost certainly get to see it. The attitude that your company displays in one country applies in all countries: You can’t run an ad in Mexico that basically spits on the United States and then turn around and say to us, “What we do in Mexico doesn’t matter here in the United States.” It sure as hell does.
Since it sounds like you are not American, you apparently don’t understand what a big deal an ad like this is to those of us in the United States. We have 20 million or so illegal immigrants in this country, most of them from Mexico and other Central American countries, and many of them belong to racist groups with names like “La Raza” (literally: “The Race” — sounds sort of like a Nazi name, doesn’t it?) which have a stated goal of taking parts of the Southwestern United States, by force if necessary, and making them part of Mexico or a new nation called Aztlan. The map you published in your ad is just the sort of propaganda they like to use, and as such, it is extremely offensive to many Americans, including myself.
Perhaps for an encore, you can run an “In an Absolut World” ad in Norway and Denmark which shows Nazi soldiers marching down the streets of Stockholm while the Swedes look impassively on. (Norwegians and Danes fought the Nazis. Swedes did not. As you can see from my name, I am descended from Swedes. Right now I am not particularly proud of that fact, thanks to you.) Or you could run an “In an Absolut World” ad in China which shows Chinese soldiers shooting Tibetans. Or you could run an “In an Absolut World” ad in Israel which depicts Muslims as barbaric wife-beaters and suicide bombers. I’m sure many Norwegians and Danes and Chinese and Israelis would consider such ads just as amusing as you think your Mexican ad is to Mexicans, but any of these ads are a bad idea because at their root, they are offensive to those depicted in the ads.
Face it: You all screwed up with this offensive ad. And now you have to pay for that mistake. The bell cannot be unrung.
I would suggest that in the future, you avoid putting political statements that have international implications in your ads. As far as I am concerned, though, you can do whatever you like: I am done with Absolut, and I am making sure to tell every bartender and bar owner I know why they should stop carrying your products (all of them, not just Absolut). You may pick up a few racist Mexican vodka drinkers, but you just lost yourself a bunch of patriotic American vodka drinkers with your clever little ad. (And there are a lot more vodka drinkers in the US than there are in Mexico.)
So again, congratulations. If you were looking for a way to reduce your consumer base, you almost could not have found a better way to do it.
Clay Johanson
April 6th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
Heh. Looks like they are apologizing to everyone:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23973492/
Too little, too late. They should have considered the consequences of their actions before putting that abominable ad out there.
April 6th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Geez, pretty stoopid. And they went “perspective” — as if facts do not matter. Once upon a time I was a vodka drinker, so it really does hit my spending one way or another. But sooooooo stoopid.