April 8, 2008 | By Celia

Absolut-ness

I'm sure that by now many of you have heard about the controversy surrounding the ad created by Mexico, D.F. ad agency Teran/TBWA - "In an Absolut World" - if so, don't mind me while I devote my blog post today to this subject. Don't worry, I'm not going to go in to much detail, I will leave that to all the professional bloggers, reporters, writers, etc.

I have been following this story since last week when a colleague at SUM showed me this ad and explained the heated conversations surrounding it. My first reaction was that it was funny and "so what?" Being a native New Mexican I am well aware of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo and I not only understood the political connotations the ad implies, but also the humor. Knowing that this was a very targeted ad only running in Mexico I didn't find much of anything wrong with it, but my sentiment isn't shared with all Americans that find the ad offensive and un-American. To think, this ad had been running for quite a while in Mexico AND was set to run for one last time this week.

Even more intriguing then the ad itself is the woman that is the root of this accidental ad crossover. In her Ad Age blog post "I Created an Absolut Ruckus" Laura Martinez explains how while in Mexico she saw the ad and it made her smile in a not so happy time for her. After all isn't that what ads are supposed to do - create an emotional connection, create intrigue and cause you to remember it? That is what this ad did for her. While back in the U.S. she made what she thought was a harmless post about the ad on her personal blog. Within no time people were posting passionate comments and soon enough tempers were ignited across the U.S. so extreme as a call for a national boycott of Absolut from National Illegal Immigration Boycott Coalition.

I still think the worst of it all is that for the next several weeks we have to read media headlines using "Absolut" with every unimaginative pun intended (kinda like mine). Here is a solute to other headlines I found:

• Absolut-ly Sorry
• Absolut Arrogance
• Absolut Silliness
• Absolut Apology
• Absolut Insanity

Read more about Laura Martinez and the crossover ad: Ad Age

Comments

« Go back