Does This Image Offend You?

by Latoya Peterson

This Absolut ad is causing quite a stir around the internet.

Now it is worth mentioning the design is not something Absolut cooked up, but an old map from before the Mexican-American War.

Some commenters from the Consumerist said:

The ad is incredibly distasteful. Absolut executives would have be living under a rock not to know about the debate over borders and immigration that is raging in the US. Throw in known groups in California that are calling for a “reconquest” of the southwestern states, and you’ve got a powder keg.

To address a former comment, yes, a company should cater to the US when making ads, if they care to sell products in the US. Last I checked, ads were to SELL PRODUCTS, and ad execs that act surprised when political statements get people upset are the idiots. With this ad, Absolut has pretty much guaranteed that some people in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas will be moved to boycott Absolut products, and they’ll probably choose to speak out publicly about it. Maybe Absolut is fine with that. But’s it’s hypocritical to suggest that Absolut is free to do what they want (i.e., stir up controversy with their ads) and then call consumers idiots when they do what is well within their power, which is to fight back with their spending dollars.

-Snakeophelia

It’s ours now. Get over it.
-f3rg

With this ad was made by a Swedish agency, I would say that they do the same ad in Europe, except obviously change Europe’s borders so that they are where the Nazi state stood in 1941.

Yes this is offensive.

And cde, Texas broke off from Mexico on their own, and was later annexed willingly by America.

The fact is that borders change during wartimes, that land is purely America’s.

And cde, an ad shouldn’t cater to America, and you should apologize for calling someone an idiot. This is about catering, its about not outright offending.

What if the ad showed America under a Confederate flag? The ad wouldn’t be catering to America, would you be happy then?
- JefffromNY

I don’t know about this, but the first poster made a good point about what if the campaign was directed to the Japanese and showed a map of the territories Japan seized in WWII. Taking it another step, what if the campaign was directed at Germans and showed the Nazi era territories that Germany held?

Or how about a U.S. Civil War era map, for a campaign directed at the Southern U.S. states?

-TheWriteGuy

Like it or not, Americans, we kinda took those lands through unprovoked aggression because we thought it was our god-given right to do so. Now, it’s a bit too late to do anything to reverse it, but there’s nothing wrong with bringing up historical fact. Nor is there anything wrong with people on the “other side” of the fence continuing to have a beef about it.

-smoothtom

(And for double points, someone further down in the thread brings Islam into the fray!)

Opinions?

(Hat Tip to dnA, Crogirl!)

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Comments

  1. j wrote:

    Frankly, I’m not sure what is offensive about the ad. Clearly Absolut is trying to be provocative (perhaps their pure provocation is offensive) but the map simply shows national boundaries before the US took over huge parts of Mexico after the Spanish American war. It’s a historical map. But I don’t get what Absolut is trying to suggest by overlaying ‘in an Absolut world’. Somebody help me out here. If anything, the map points out that the US has been as much a colonizer and aggressor as any other nation, which far too many Americans are unwilling to acknowledge.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:06 am

  2. j wrote:

    i meant Mexican-American war.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:07 am

  3. Celeste wrote:

    We shouldn’t be offended by our own truth. This land was S-T-O-L-E-N. I don’t blame the descndents of those we stole from for trying to get it back. It doesn’t more rightly belong in our country. I don’t get the relationship to vodka but it shouldn’t offend those of us who benefited from manifest destiny.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:24 am

  4. Jess McCabe wrote:

    “Taking it another step, what if the campaign was directed at Germans and showed the Nazi era territories that Germany held?”

    Yeahflkfldkf…

    That is not an appropriate comparison. Does this commenter not understand that the Nazis carried out the Holocaust, and any such map could only be interpreted as pro-Nazi?

    Admittedly, I don’t know much about US history, and nothing at all about the Mexico -American but I don’t *think* this Absolut map would carry anything like the same associations of genocide?!!!

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:32 am

  5. Jess McCabe wrote:

    Also, it is an inaccurate comparison, as the Nazis were the in government in Germany - in order to fit the example, the campaign would have to be directed at, say, Poland.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:33 am

  6. atlasien wrote:

    This ad ran IN MEXICO. I repeat, IN MEXICO. Not in the United States. These people are getting angry about an ad campaign by a foreign company in a foreign country. They apparently think we should own ALL of Mexico.

    And all the parallels they’re making are completely freaking idiotic. The Nazis didn’t use to own Poland. The Japanese didn’t use to own Korea. The Confederacy didn’t use to own the North.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:42 am

  7. laura wrote:

    What is the relationship between vodka and an early map of Mexico?

    I’m way more offended by the commentary. As a Texan, I’m proud of the mixed heritage of my state, and quite frankly want to beat people upside the head when they flip shit about immigration and say hurtful things about Mexico.

    And I think that in terms of land negotiations at that time, it was a little more complex than an out and out land grab (it was for Texas at least). And at that time, I’m pretty sure the grand majority the area in question was frontier–inhabited mostly by Native Americans, with missionaries and settlers doing the actual stealing. …From that standpoint, I could see the connection with a racial genocide, but I don’t think thats what the commenter was going for.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:51 am

  8. Colin wrote:

    The point of the Nazi analogy is not to “make sense” or be “logical”. It’s obviously to stir emotions and to much of Middle America (shorthand for uninformed white folks) it works well. Mexicans are just like the Nazis and thus the nationalist Wheel of Hatred keeps spinning. It’s similar to bashing “black power” movements as “racist” or “just like the Klan”, etc. Disgusting but necessary for the survival of white supremacy.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:52 am

  9. Mary wrote:

    Interestingly when I first saw the ad, completely out of context, I might have assumed it was supposed to be an anti-illegal immigration commentary: i.e. “there’s so many Mexicans here this is what the map might as well look like!”

    Knowing the context, I’m not sure what the big deal is. The Nazi comparisons are absurd and unnecessarily hysterical. I’ve heard lots of Americans joke about the UK being the 51st state of the USA, we should be able to man up and take it when the shoe is on the other foot. Anger is often an aggressive expression of fear… those reactions say more about the commenters than they do about Absolut, IMHO.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:53 am

  10. j wrote:

    “This ad ran IN MEXICO. I repeat, IN MEXICO. Not in the United States.”

    Ok, well now I understand the ad. It’s funny that an advertisement for liquor can acknowledge an historical fact that many ordinary people (like the commentators) are loathe to admit.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:55 am

  11. Alexis from Texas wrote:

    Yes, this ad offends me. It is a Mexican ad, run in Mexico, targeted to Mexicans, and it’s written in English. WHAT THE FUCK!?

    Seriously, though? If we demand that Mexicans have the same humor as us, smooth our ruffled feathers, make sure to play nice with us all the time? We’re all doomed. The ad isn’t written for our sensibilities. It isn’t about us. The world is not fucking about us. Can we please allow the occasional cultures to retain its own history, desires, jokes, and ambitions without having to mold themselves to make us happy? Fuck. Sometimes, even i wished we lived en un mundo Absolut.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 9:59 am

  12. lockedwithpatience wrote:

    Really, I don’t know if it offends me or not.

    I think that with such a climate on illegal immigration that it Absolut could be suggesting them, like “who cares?”… or they could just be talking about history.

    Don’t know. I’m not hot about it though.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 10:21 am

  13. tasha wrote:

    oh, I get it. The ad ran in Mexico. En un ABSOLUT Mundo. Thank You.

    Question: Is the acquisition of land after the Mexican-American war still controversial among Mexicans?

    If not, then this is kind of funny.

    Now if ABSOLUT had done this with the same concept invovling the Palestinian territories before the Six Day War, then that wouldn’t be funny at all.

    I wonder how Argentines would’ve reacted had Absolut done this concept with the Falklands?

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 10:36 am

  14. dodgerdodger wrote:

    Why draw the line at 1835? Why not go back and redraw the approximate extent of American Indian tribal lands? If we’re going to play the ‘autochthony = legitimacy = ownership’ game, it certainly doesn’t stop with the Mexican state of the early nineteenth century. And the lands that consistuted those borders shown in the map were certainly not voluntarily ceded to the Mexican government.

    There’s nothing offensive to me about this map, considering its context. The American regime of the time went on the offensive and took land that had not been its own by force. Facts are facts, especially considering that this is a map Absolut merely duplicated, rather than drew itself.

    But the advertisement does feed into an idea of the nation-state being equivalent to an inviolable, eternal, and absolute nation that can have dangerous consequences (not necessarily here, now, but given the wrong time and the wrong place).

    The charred remains of maps redrawing current borders this way litter every corner of the Balkans.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 10:42 am

  15. juniperb wrote:

    Being a Texan and having had the pleasure of slogging through a year of “Texas History and Appreciation” class in seventh grade, I don’t think that this ad is offensive. The people living in Texas weren’t dying to be part of the US. The US settlers may have been after they ran the locals off, but the people who had lived here for centuries were not. Would Spain be offended if an ad with a map of Mexico (intended for a Mexican audience) had Mayan cities on it? I think not.

    If this map had been a depiction of Hawaii as a separate nation from the US, I wouldn’t be offended either. Hawaii was taken over by a coup d’etat by another set of settlers who thought they knew what was best for the native Hawaiians. That’s a real comparison that actually happened. Not this Nazi BS.

    I think that the ad might be offensive to people who “forget” historical facts.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 10:49 am

  16. Jay wrote:

    Meh, all of those complainers would be telling people who complain about things like that white Sony PSP ad, or any ad with a chop-socky kung fu guy to shut up.

    Now that the tables have turned, however…

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:06 am

  17. Arturo wrote:

    Honestly, the first thing I thought of when I saw this was “Wild Wild West.”

    See, part of Kenneth Brannaugh’s “evil plot” against America included returning California and Texas to Mexico. In a theatre full of Latinos, let me tell you, that made him a hero real quick …

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:08 am

  18. Kynn wrote:

    The right-wing nativist overreaction to this ad is one of the most amusing things the bigots have done in a long time. Please, more ads like this, Absolut!

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:14 am

  19. Sulyp wrote:

    I actually… LMAO when I saw this ad. I KNEW what sort of people would crawl out their caves to beat their chest and call themselves “offended”. That was the best part of it, just reading the comments. Comparing Mexican sovereignty to the Nazis? Yeah! Just the sort of linear thinking great minds are made of, LOL!

    I am not a fan of illegal immigration, but not for the usual manufactured reasons. Due to proximity, some groups of people will have an easier time crossing the border than others who have an ocean to cross and papers to legally file. It’s not fair, but hey, to move in search of prosperity is the story of humanity… *ahem, manifest destiny anyone?*

    Now where can I find that ad in poster size? I would like to hang it up on my wall.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:17 am

  20. gatamala wrote:

    I don’t find this ad offensive, I DO find the taste of Absolut vodka offensive.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:24 am

  21. Neil wrote:

    hey guys, i made an ad in the hopes that absolut would run it in india:
    http://nobodygetshurt.tv/misc/absolut_india.jpg

    oh i do hope i don’t offend the british imperialists among us…

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:44 am

  22. Rob Schmidt wrote:

    http://www.racialicious.com/2008/04/09/does-this-image-offend-you/

    I’d say it’s not offensive.

    For those who still don’t get it, here’s a translation: Absolut Vodka will make you feel on top of the world. As if you’re still the strong, proud owner of the land that was taken from you.

    As for why the ad is in English, there could be some technical reason why Absolut wants to use a single slogan worldwide. Or the target audience could be the large number of English speakers in Mexico. Or it could be making some sort of subtle statement: When you drink Absolut, you’ll be in charge of much of the English-speaking USA. You’ll be the one telling the gringos what to do.

    You gotta love the people whose only response is “get over it” or “borders change during wartime.” As if immoral acts of aggression justify anything. Hey, Pearl Harbor and 9/11 were acts of warfare too. Did the deaths of all those Americans bother you? Too bad…get over it.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:49 am

  23. laura wrote:

    Well, Texas changed its mind about being independent after they realized that they lacked infrastructure to run a country. For example, the didn’t have an industrial sector to speak of. So, while they believed that they were being treated unfairly, it turned out that they were way more reliant on a larger country for things like trade.

    This a little bit of the history of that area as I remember it. None of this has dates because I can’t remember numbers. Indigenous people lived throughout the Americas for what is effectively forever. Then the Spanish came and built an empire. As they moved northward, the sent up missionaries to westernize the Native Americans, that was frighteningly effective. While a lot people think that they died out, most Native Americans were subsumed into the mission system are probably considered ‘hispanic’ by the mainstream. Anyway, Mexico seceded in the early 19th c (I think), mostly for the same reasons that all empires suck. Now, Americans were coming into Northern Mexico (aka the SouthWest), which (from my understanding) was encouraged by the Mexican government because it allowed for more control of the Native American populations. If you bought land, you were required to become a Mexican citizen, speak Spanish, no slaves, that kind of thing. Texas began to feel that it was being treated unfairly, but I do not know if that was the sentiment of the wealthy land owners, or of a greater portion of the population; however the fact that most of the early government in Texas was mostly white (from what I know) it makes me doubt that it was a grassroots movement. In any case, the Rep. of Texas fails within a decade, and since they still don’t like Mexico, is quickly snapped up by the US.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 11:55 am

  24. laura wrote:

    wow, that was really long. My apologies

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:01 pm

  25. Thea wrote:

    I’m with dodgerdodger - in order for this ad to totally make sense, they should redraw all of North America with land ceded to the people who originally owned it.

    I live in Toronto and if the land were to be given back to the people who it was stolen from, I’d be homeless and everyone I know would live in chaos. But as an image I think this poster is super interesting and for that reason alone I’d like to see what the map would look like with the original territories - just because it confronts us and makes us remember and think. How are we ever going to get to the bottom of racism if we can’t even admit that the first act of racism to forge the Americas even happened?

    Odd that it’s a Vodka ad though! Hooray for corporations (accidentally and with no intention of doing the right thing) putting out something accurate…

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:06 pm

  26. goc wrote:

    Neil:
    “hey guys, i made an ad in the hopes that absolut would run it in india:
    http://nobodygetshurt.tv/misc/absolut_india.jpg

    oh i do hope i don’t offend the british imperialists among us…”

    It might offend some Pakistani and Bangladeshi nationalists though. Wouldn’t recommend running this Ad in India, might destroy the 5 year long peace process in South Asia, knowing our petty politicians …

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:16 pm

  27. Jorge wrote:

    I don’t know if someone pointed this out already, but it is interesting to note the kind of magazine in which the ad is featured. It is called Quien and it is pretty much a celeb magazine which features articles like who got married to who, pictures of parties featuring various members of la high society, and ads for real estate in Texas so that people can go shopping a lot easier and stop worrying about getting kidnapped in Mexico, among other things.

    The ad is in English because the audience for this ad probably speaks English due to their education (private school, boarding school abroad, or you just happen to live at the boarder like myself) or their travel experiences.

    I guess what I’m trying to get at is that the audience is pretty small. It is a group of people who would get the joke and say “Yeah, right…” The biggest joke is that IF the ad were reality, we would not have benefited from that unfortunate war. That is, for those of us for which it is a breeze to go across the international border, we can go to the first world in a matter of hours.

    First post…sorry for the ramblings….

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:36 pm

  28. johnjihoonchang wrote:

    I really don’t know what is offensive about this ad. It’s just a historical world map, pre-wartime. I don’t really understand the ad, though.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:41 pm

  29. Tarah Sweeney wrote:

    I’m not Mexican, nor am I American, so what I think may or may not matter, but this ad is mild compared to others going around.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:43 pm

  30. johnjihoonchang wrote:

    I take part of my comment back. I just paid attention to the rest of the countries on it and it’s definitely not a historical map. Still don’t find it offensive, but the response is certainly amusing.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:58 pm

  31. AJ wrote:

    Did anyone post this already? Really the awesomest part of this debacle is this site:

    http://www.boycottabsolut.com/

    highlights include:

    “There is a rapidly growing separatist movement in the United States that is being fueled by illegal immigration across our Southern Border with Mexico… While many in the American media try to ignore or play down the threat, this radical movement is much stronger than most Americans know and global companies like Absolut are trying to cash in on it…”

    Racist crazies getting spooked about Aztlan make my day!

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 12:59 pm

  32. Roni wrote:

    I’m not offended by the ad, I just didn’t get it until I realized it was run in the Mexican market. I can see where it’s taking a poke at the US, but as I’m neither from the Southwest, nor am I very well-informed about the Mexican-American War; I’m not personally affected.

    I am somewhat offended by the commenters incredibly stupid comparisons. I wonder at how often rabid American patriotism and no sense of proportion go hand and hand.

    It is an interesting judgment call on Absolut’s part. It’s generally bad for business to advertise to Customer A by picking on customer B, in this case indicating the US is wrongfully holding part of Mexico. I’m intrigued by the blatant gamble that Americans aren’t paying attention.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 1:38 pm

  33. McJumpguez wrote:

    I was not offended. I wrote a paper in HS about the impact of the Mexican-American War (1846-1848) and only saw a historical map.
    I’m more offended to people’s reactions toward the Mexican people. All in all, this is just a stupid ad to divide and conquer in an already heated time in our politics: illegal immigration. Clearly (or perhaps not clearly) absolut knew what they were doing. I do believe they would never advertise this in the US. Yes, many Mexican are very patriotic, and I think the most you would get out of this from a Mexican is “Yes” and then, they’d move on, not give it as much thought as well are or meaning, the crazy leftisists, INO.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 3:02 pm

  34. DivergentDana wrote:

    Response to the ad: *shrugs*

    “As a Texan, I’m proud of the mixed heritage of my state, and quite frankly want to beat people upside the head when they flip shit about immigration and say hurtful things about Mexico. ”

    Word.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 3:59 pm

  35. Bobby wrote:

    I think the native american perspective is not discussed enough on this issue. Indians lived in the Southwest (California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico, etc.) long before and after the arrival of Americans and Mexicans. To the Indians, neither the Mexican nor Americans have a legitimate claim over their land.

    In Mexico’s case, they expressed legal ownership over the Southwest after rebelling from Spanish colonial rule. However, the Spaniards never actually conquered and subdued all of the Indians, though they “legally” owned the land. Shortly after Mexico declared independence, the Mexican government declared legal ownership of the Southwest, though the Mexicans also did not conquer or inhabit most of the land.

    To a native american, the California and the Southwest territories never belonged to Mexico in the first place. It is very convenient for Mexicans to blame the U.S. for stealing their land. But from a wider historical perspective, the Mexican-American conflict was a contest between colonial powers which ultimately deprived native americans of their sovereignty.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 4:06 pm

  36. Gouw wrote:

    The best part is that the thinskinned assholes that compare this ad to Nazism are probably the first to say shit like “Why are the blacks so whiny, we let them into our colleges already?”

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 4:40 pm

  37. uu wrote:

    From watching Glenn Beck’s comments or rather tirade about the ad, I’m only left questioning why is it when the truth is presented, especially if it’s coming from the mouth of PoCs, do white Americans get offended? Its like their egos are so easily hurt or something. I really don’t see how anyone would be offended by this ad. Especially since it wasn’t even intended to run here in the U.S but rather in and only in Mexico. Go figure.

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 7:09 pm

  38. Lisa S. wrote:

    Not even remotely offended

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 8:09 pm

  39. erica wrote:

    Thank you to Bobby for saying the obvious! Native Americans were here long before any other settlers came a long!

    Posted 09 Apr 2008 at 8:55 pm

  40. Classical One wrote:

    It would offend me if I actually had to live in California as a state of Mexico.

    Posted 10 Apr 2008 at 4:27 pm

  41. Molly wrote:

    It reminds me of that map of “the holy land” on West Wing that they couldn’t put up because some people would be offended that Israel wasn’t on it, even though the map was made before Israel existed.

    I’m all for (political) correctness, because usually it just means not being a privileged dick.

    But this is just history. It’s a little random (I don’t really get what their point is), but it’s not like that isn’t what the map used to look like. And it doesn’t say “in a perfect world.” What the hell is an “Absolut” world, anyway? One where everyone’s soused?

    It could be racist, I’m no expert. But between this and, say, Darfur, I know where I’d rather expend energy.

    Posted 10 Apr 2008 at 4:28 pm

  42. Paul wrote:

    The land was not stolen from Mexico. It was stolen from Native Americans. Mexicans, like Americans, sought to destroy and displace Native Peoples. It amazes me that Mexicans get high and mighty about the Mexican-American War, when they only lost land that they had stolen in the first place.

    Posted 10 Apr 2008 at 8:44 pm

  43. janice wrote:

    Who didn’t know that all this land was the Mexican’s, Well really the Indians. If facts like these offend people then they should crawl under a rock never to return. Just do not get started on the stupid shit in America, that goes on and the things people cry about.

    Posted 10 Apr 2008 at 9:27 pm

  44. Classical One wrote:

    Paul, notice that while Mexico is very upset with its border situation with us, its own border with Guatemela is harshly enforced and illegals are shunned by Mexican society.

    Posted 10 Apr 2008 at 11:08 pm

  45. edelmira wrote:

    mexicans = meztizos
    mostly, anyhow.

    Posted 11 Apr 2008 at 2:15 am

  46. NonOffendedTexan wrote:

    I see the map as a representation of where Mexican culture is represented.
    Like a cloud in the sky, you can think it looks like what ever shape you want, but yelling at the cloud because you don’t like what you see just makes you look crazy.

    Posted 16 Apr 2008 at 12:30 pm

  47. Coloradan livin TX wrote:

    Yeah, I’m offended. Anyone living in one of our southern border states would know that illegal immigration is a hotbed. Its funny that I can go into a restaurant in Laredo, TX and have a waitress not even attempt to talk to me in English. Fact is, we either bought or fought for all this land, same as many other countries have done. It is not S-T-O-L-E-N as others who have posted would have you believe. My opinion, the only real reason this is an issue is that Mexico can’t take care of its own people. Can you imagine is Mexico did get to take back the southern states? Illegal immigration to Utah would be rampant and widespread.

    Posted 20 Apr 2008 at 10:12 am

  48. Scooter wrote:

    I could have got offended by that image… but I decided to have a life instead.

    Posted 20 Apr 2008 at 2:53 pm

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