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

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.