Oh, what the hell? I'll bite. Er ... drink to that.

http://slog.thestranger.com/files/2008/04/thumb463x_absolutmexico.jpg (http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/in_conclusion_absolut_is_absolutly_delic)

The Stranger's Paul Constant notes,

I think this Mexi-friendly Absolut ad is just a clever way to get all the political blogs to paste up an Absolut ad for the whole weekend.

Mission (http://wonkette.com/376332/vodka-ad-reveals-illegal-immigrants-master-plan) accomplished (http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laplaza/2008/04/mexico-reconque.html)!

(Constant (http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/in_conclusion_absolut_is_absolutly_delic))

He also makes the point that, "It appears that Absolut Vodka is the new france, and Ketel One is the new Freedom Fries". It seems the nature of people's responses is diverse. While Michelle Malkin's readers (http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/04/absolut-arrogance-and-the-advertising-agency-behind-the-reconquista-ad/) seem to have declared a boycott against Absolut, and even gone dragging the Nazis into it—

I run a bar in Pt. Richmond, California - where the Kaiser Liberty Ships were built during WWII. After seeing your ad Campaign where you show a western map of the United States in which California is part of Mexico again, I’ve decided to do the following…
1) Never carry Absolut. Ever.
2) Lower the price of Ketel One vodka to $2 a shot indefinitely to build loyalty.
3) Print a copy of your ad and put it above the Ketel One drink special.
4) Tell all my friends and family what Absolut thinks of the United States of America and our right to enforce border laws.
I am on the front line of illegal immigration and its effects. Where are you? Oh yes, Sweden.
Good riddance.

(Matthew Rogers)

• • •

I suppose in Germany, your company is running the “Deutschland, uber alles” ad campaign — with a map showing all of Europe and Russia under the swastika moniker of the Third Reich.

(Dev)

—Wonkette (http://wonkette.com/376332/vodka-ad-reveals-illegal-immigrants-master-plan) readers simply found the whole thing hilarious:

Take Florida too, for the love of god.

(Omnilation's Dog)

• • •

If McCain is elected I will be praying for this outcome. Viva Mexico! Although there's no way in hell I'm inviting Utah to my fiesta.

(HowInsaneIsJohnMcCain)

• • •

Viva Presidente Richardson!! I, for one welcome my new Mexican overlords and rejoice in being free from Bush/Cheney 290 days early. Viva!

Hey, wait -- what does this mean for Walnuts?

(Moleman)

• • •

not so fast! Make them trade Tijuana for Florida. Would love to get to Tijuana for them cheap hookers and beer without bringing my passport. I always get wasted and leave it behind!

(Miss Perception)

• • •

Would this mean that the quality of Mexican food in the midwest would improve?

(Superfectablog)

You know, at some point, they bust out the limericks.

Anyway, there's a lesson here. And that lesson is that when faced with the question of how moronic Michelle Malkin and her readers are, it's best to just shrug, walk away, and maybe think about drinking heavily—maybe some vodka?—in a desperate attempt to erase from your mind the soul-chilling stupidity you just read at her blog.

Oh. Right. The lesson actually is that conservatives have no sense of humor, and Michelle Malkin is a foul ....

(What?)

Damn. Okay. The lesson here is that it's just a freakin' ad. I mean, I don't drink Absolut because it sucks. You know what separates Absolut from the crime against humanity called plastic-bottle vodka? A glass bottle.

Take the note from Mr. Constant. It's about free advertising.

And, yes, I'll drink to that. Mostly because the advert apparently annoys the hell out of the humorless. And, hey, it's Absolut. Something about Darwin goes here. So, yeah. I'll drink to it, but if you don't mind, I'll drink bourbon, instead. Or maybe a beer.
_____________________

Notes:

Constant, Paul. "In Conclusion, Absolut is Absolut-ly Delicious!". Slog. April 4, 2008. http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/04/in_conclusion_absolut_is_absolutly_delic

Newell, Jim et al. "Vodka Ad Reveals Illegal Immigrants' Master Plan". Wonkette. April 4, 2008. http://wonkette.com/376332/vodka-ad-reveals-illegal-immigrants-master-plan

Michelle Malkin et al. "Absolut arrogance and the advertising agency behind the reconquista ad". MichelleMalkin.com. April 4, 2008. http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/04/absolut-arrogance-and-the-advertising-agency-behind-the-reconquista-ad/

You people need to lay back and stop taking affronts to your intelligence..i mean patriotism so damn seriously...

Go have a vodka..err i mean martini, or whatever you damn adults and french fries have.

The wonkette is a fun read:


mexico's grand scheme
Vodka Ad Reveals Illegal Immigrants' Master Plan

hehe

Heh, amusing. I'll buy a round for everyone!

- N

They don't know how close to the truth this ad is. Yet it doesn't go far enough. All of Mexico, USA and Canada should be green. Viva N.A.U.!

~String

Addressing this to all drinkers who like to talk about politics:

1. Absolut is originally Swedish, produced in Sweden. In March this year, it got sold to the French, Pernod Ricard.

2. Absolut is not even that good. Belvedere is It, and it's Polish.

The wonkette is a fun read

And the article itself, short enough to be quoted in its entirety here. It all depends on how you look at it.

• • •

I guess my question is why so many people feel so threatened by Mexicans. Except that's not really it. I've heard how Mexicans are stealing jobs from Americans who would otherwise be picking lettuce or sewing t-shirts in sweatshops. And then there's our "cold dead hands" gun enthusiasts who apparently wouldn't revolt against our new Mexican overlords because, well, the Mexicans are just so damn scary. And, of course, there are the people who are afraid to hear another language when they're in a restaurant somewhere, and even though they're also often the people who worry about crime they want to prevent Mexicans from working until they speak English to some abstract degree of satisfaction; this, of course, would scoff at any assertion that poverty and unemployment are related to crime.

Argue with a hardened capitalist about child labor abroad, or unsafe working conditions, or "slave" wages, and you'll hear about how everything will go to hell if we try to guarantee decent wages around the world. And so it goes at home. The American culture and economy are incredibly adaptable. We have, over the years, adjusted our ways until we depend on illegal immigrants and undereducated minorities to pay crappy wages to make and do stuff for us. It's part of how we've become "the greatest place on Earth".

So the outcry from Michelle Malkin and the Moron Brigade is nothing more than electioneering, a cheap attempt to rally the vote around fear.

That's what I like about the Wonkette article, and Constant's bit for Slog. With the latter, note that it was updated once he paused to read through the content of the sites he linked to for his "Mission accomplished" note.

A bit more from Malkin's readers:

Dear Sirs, as a result of your offensive ad, I will no longer be buying Absolut and will be purchasing Stolichnaya. I will be emailing Absolut and informing them of this. I will be telling my friends, family and anyone that will listen of the advert created by your company.

(Fasternu 426 (http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/04/absolut-arrogance-and-the-advertising-agency-behind-the-reconquista-ad/#comment-279609))

I mean, wow. One wonders if Fasternu is the proverbial strange uncle, so when he tells his family about it, everyone else just sort of rolls their eyes. Imagine that one at the bus stop, telling "anyone that will listen", or jabbering to the Asian clerk at the convenience store I used to live across the street from. ("You leave my store now! You crazy! Get out now!")

But then there's this counterpoint:

Guess you missed it, but Absolut was purchased by Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard is also the U.S. distributor for Stoli.

(governmentdrone (http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/04/absolut-arrogance-and-the-advertising-agency-behind-the-reconquista-ad/#comment-279634))

And, of course, there's the fact that Stolichnaya is even worse than Absolut.

Okay, okay. Two more:

Ok, how much longer until we see an ad featuring Islamic Rage Boy and an image of earth with a big red “Islam” stamped on it?

(Behiker (http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/04/absolut-arrogance-and-the-advertising-agency-behind-the-reconquista-ad/#comment-279635))

• • •

My email message to Mr. Moran was very simple.
“Your US/Mexico border ad was despicable. I will no longer purchase Absolut products.
How’s that for living in an Absolut world?”
I think that clearly lands a body blow!

(Rotarymunkey (http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/04/absolut-arrogance-and-the-advertising-agency-behind-the-reconquista-ad/#comment-279642))

What offends me about advertising in general is that it is stupid and patronizing and plays on stereotypes, but that's what happens when you aim at the lowest common denominator. And when it doesn't, people get offended, anyway. Like an old Glenfiddich advert in Harper's or Atlantic Monthly that showed a guy in proper jacket and knickerbockers, argyle socks and golf shoes putting on a pool table. I actually heard someone say, "Good thing he's so rich he can afford to ruin a pool table!" And that seems to be part of the issue here. The Absolut advert, as with Glenfiddich, stirs a poor response among people who are outside its intended audience. Part of what's going on here is that some of Malkin's readers are upset at the fact that an advertisement was created with other people in mind, and the hacks behind it didn't stop to consider the feelings of people outside the intended market. And that's a complaint you can make about nearly any advertisement.
____________________

Notes:

Malkin, Michelle et al. See prior citation.

Ok, how much longer until we see an ad featuring Islamic Rage Boy and an image of earth with a big red “Islam” stamped on it?

Thats an interesting quote, considering this (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=492864&in_page_id=1770&ICO=NEWS&ICL=TOPART)

...Anyway, I think that image is nothing more than a joke. The Wonkette.... WTF is the Wonkette?

Remember these? http://web.knoxnews.com/silence/archives/jesusland.jpg There were lots of these going around a while ago. Americans laughed, but I'm not sure how Canadians felt. It's only a joke, and whoever took it seriously has a poor sense of humor. Let's not blow it out of proportion.

vodka taste nasty. I don't want to live in an Absolut world.

The Wonkette.... WTF is the Wonkette

Wonkette is a political blog. It comes from the word wonk (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/wonk), which Merriam-Webster defines as a "person preoccupied with arcane details or procedures in a specialized field". If you're into politics and policy, you're a "policy wonk". (See, for instance, Jonathon Golob (http://dearscience.org/2008/03/31/the-cooper-union-speech/) on a recent Obama speech, "For someone like me, a total wonk, this is an enrapturing [speech]". And no, being a wonk doesn't mean your one-draft posts are any better written than anyone else's.)

The original Wonkette, I believe, was Ana Marie Cox, who added the "-ette" to the name as a note to her sex. Cox has gone on to write for Time and publish a novel about Beltway culture called Dog Days.

Anyway, I think that image is nothing more than a joke

I think it was intended in a lighthearted manner, if that's what you mean by a joke. But Malkin, obviously, isn't taking it that way.

http://www.absolutads.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/mexicog.JPG (http://www.absolutads.com/?p=800)
Image via AbsolutAds.com (http://www.absolutads.com/?p=800).

I refrain from reading blogs. Blogs can be inaccurate, skewed for attention whoring at best.

I once read a blog which claimed that Muslim immigrants in Sweden are raping Swedish girls en masse; and resolved that blogs are a waste of time.

Time magazine is also to be read carefully, the frequency of extensive articles on "nature of romance" is suspicious.

I refrain from reading blogs.

Okay. Good for you.

Blogs can be inaccurate, skewed for attention whoring at best.

I think you're being a bit general there, but I get your point, I think.

Still, though ... and?

I once read a blog which claimed that Muslim immigrants in Sweden are raping Swedish girls en masse; and resolved that blogs are a waste of time.

Wouldn't that be a bit like listening to George W. Bush speak once and resolving that Republicans are a waste of time?

Time magazine is also to be read carefully, the frequency of extensive articles on "nature of romance" is suspicious.

If that is the clincher ...?

Absolut apologizes (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23973492/)


MEXICO CITY - The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers....

Okay. Good for you.



I think you're being a bit general there, but I get your point, I think.

Still, though ... and?



Wouldn't that be a bit like listening to George W. Bush speak once and resolving that Republicans are a waste of time?



If that is the clincher ...?

I was never really into Republican Party and lately it does seem to consist of sensitive underachievers: Bush family, Gugliani, and Ron Paul are good examples.

I simply mean to say that the Wonkette and that writer who used to be a Wonkette and went on to write for Time are not worth much attention. Both texts are very opinionated and aim to get attention rather than provide food for thought. You have to fish for facts long and hard, especially in blogs, and you have to check them over, and you might as well simply go get the facts and form your own opinions. Other sources that put entertainment as top priority are CNN and Fox News.

I simply mean to say that the Wonkette and that writer who used to be a Wonkette and went on to write for Time are not worth much attention. Both texts are very opinionated and aim to get attention rather than provide food for thought. You have to fish for facts long and hard, especially in blogs, and you have to check them over, and you might as well simply go get the facts and form your own opinions. Other sources that put entertainment as top priority are CNN and Fox News.

That they are often editorially skewed is something I wouldn't argue against. But there is such a thing as food for thought for the choir. I mean, we could say many of the same things about stand-up comedians, but I've had my favorites over the years.

It's an ad about an idea.

Mucho nada.

It took a more primitive U.S. all of 17 months to capture Mexico City and points north.

Pres. Polk succeeded in a land grab beyond his expectations.

The Mexicans took money and other considerations from the US in exchange for the 40% of "their" land, land that they had acquired some 20 years before from the Spaniards, who "acquired" it from those who possessed it before Spain.

Mexico didn't possess the power to keep the US from "buying" the land, and Mexico certainly hasn't since acquired the means to take it back.

It's an add about a fantasy.

Some perspective, folks.