The World: New York - Absolut apologises for 'affront to America' ad

Campaign 18-Apr-08

The maker of Absolut vodka has been forced to apologise over an ad accused of inflaming racial issues in the US.

The print ad, produced by Teran\TBWA in Mexico City, was a local extension of the "in an Absolut world" campaign and featured a map showing much of the South-Western area of the US as part of Mexico, as it once was.

The ad ran only in Quien, a Mexican celebrity gossip magazine. However, bloggers posted it in the US where it was picked up by TV, newspapers and the Drudge Report website.

A Los Angeles Times poll drew almost 67,000 responses, with 62 per cent agreeing that the ad was "an affront to America" and that Absolut should be boycotted.