Absolut truth causing stirs across America
Los Angeles, Ca.,_ The L.A. Times today carried a story about the latest advertising campaign of Swedish vodka Absolut in Mexico. The ad depicts, of all things, a North American map that has Los Estados Unidos, not losestadoslatinos.com, shaded in brown and Mexico in green. The rub in this season of “guess whose coming to dinner and to take our country” time is that Mexico’s shading includes all the land we, the U.S., stole from Mexico in order to accomplish “manifest destiny”. It’s a great ad if for no other reason that everyone who sees it will remember and will render an opinion.
On the one side you have people who think its an affront to Americans and on the other you have educated people who understand history and also know that advertising will not result in people turning their home deeds over to new waves of immigrants (until they purchase those homes of course).
The Times report includes the following comments from the ads originator, Favio Ucedo of Grupo Gallegos. “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. Many people are not going to understand it here (US). Americans in the East and the North or in the center of the country – I don’t know if they know much about history.” It goes on to say that blogs across the country are burning up cyberspace with strong responses to the cunning and sharp ad. To Ablsolut Los Estados Latinos says “Salud.”
