absolut: “mundo absoluto in mexico”.

There are a few things in the world that just don’t make sense to me: Nicholas Cage’s successful film career. Vegetarianism. Crocs.

But if there’s one thing that completely mystifies me it’s attempted censorship. As an artist, I think it offends my very nature. Anytime that ugly little beast coerces a company to remove any work of art, media, or culture from the collective “many” because of the opinion of the narrow-minded, but vocal, “few”, I get very angry. We all have the right to our opinions, but nobody has the right to undermine free speech and promote censorship.

The question, one that I can’t answer even though I’ve thought about it, is “Why are some Americans completely incapable of having a sense of humour about their own country?”

(AP Photo/Teran/TBWA)

So here’s an ad that ran last month in Mexio, created by Teran/TBWA for Absolut Vodka. The map shows Mexico’s borders before The American-Mexican war of 1846-1848. The war started when Mexico had the cojones to not recognize the U.S. annexation of Texas. It’s been a sore spot with Mexico ever since, as the transfer of land and re-drawing of borders post-war usually tends to be.

The joke is simple, innocent, and harmless, and was only ever intended to run in Mexico. No harm, no foul. That’s until American media outlets got a hold of it, the ad started to spread across the web, and I’m sure you can guess what happened next.

People lost their shit. The Absolut website got a couple thousand complaints, threats of a boycott, and the Neo-Cons foamed at the mouth at the audacity of anyone to ever assume that the world could possibly be a better place is America had less land. People starting reacting as if Mexico had made a formal declaration of war and was massing troops along the Rio Grande.

The offender takes over a billboard in Mexico City. Pic courtesy of Kyle Fletcher.

The main point of all this, the one that drives me nuts, is that somewhere along the line everyone managed to forget that this was just an ad. It’s not a UN treaty. It’s a vodka ad.

Last week, Absolut’s makers Vin & Spirit said the ad was created “with a Mexican sensibility” and was not meant for the U.S. market. Absolut released an apology saying “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.”

No shit. That’s because it’s an ADVERTISEMENT FOR VODKA. Just the fact that anyone should have to explain that a print ad isn’t literally suggesting the Mexican annexation of Texas proves how worked up some people are. Worse than that, the fact that some Americans would react with such vitriol towards Mexico over something so inconsequential illustrates just how intrinsically racist the offended, boycott-happy bunch really are.

Want proof? Here are some of the choice comments from the website absolutads.com:

“How about an ad that shows a mushroom clowd [sic] over Mexico and USA people rejoycing [sic] that we don’t have to put up a fence to keep law breakers out. Thats no worse than you giving half of our country away.”

“In an world of Absolut America haters, the USA wouldn’t exist. But, where will the Mexicans run to for jobs and indoor plumbing?”

“I know what an intelligent marketing move is: pandering to a bunch of illiterate Mexicans, most of whom are dirt-poor and have no discerning taste anyway, while pissing off millions of savvy Americans, who can, far and away, afford to purchase much more of your product and are more likely to drink it anyway. Genius!”

“How dare you INSULT The United States just to sell your poison to some hispanics. I hope you go under from lack of sales.”

“The makers of Absolut have crossed the line. They are now encouraging the overthrow of my country. Screw them.”

Who are these people? If they put half the energy of their vehemence over this ad and morphed it into, say, working to fight cancer or stopping global warming or saving Darfur, just imagine what they could accomplish. “Encouraging the overthrow of my country…”. Are you fucking kidding me?

One particular foamy-mouthed Neo-Con blogger, who I’m not going to name because a) I don’t want to give them any more credit, and b) I’m worried they’ll try and have me killed, went as far as to post this lovely graphic response to the ad, photo-shopped by an equally foamy-mouthed reader:

Wow. I don’t know what else to say to that except wow. I wonder if these people get all chest-beaty when they think about the Statue of Liberty, or does that entire “give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…” concept only get upheld when it’s convenient?

Sure, the global opinion of America is at an all time low and maybe they’re feeling a little deflated, but it’s still the richest, loudest, shiniest, showiest, most powerful country in the world. Isn’t that enough to just chill out and let Mexico get a little jab in? Do people seriously think that Mexico will have a few vodkas and say “Gee, that Absolut ad has the right idea… let’s take our non-existent army and invade California. That’ll show those Yanks…”.

I’m not trying to paint an inaccurate picture that these few complaints speak for all Americans. The problem is that these are the type of people that speak up. This is who Absolut is listening to. That’s what bothers me.

I’m disturbed that the racism of someone who can’t correctly spell “cloud” is partially determining what kind of advertising the rest of us should see. No matter the issue, discrimination and hatred is never a valid response.

Thanks to kp for sending me this.