absolutely wrong

Absolut Vodka is taking a very strong anti-American and anti-common sense stand in an execution of their new campaign I found at Make The Logo Bigger.

The ad is running only in Mexico, but the internet is worldwide, and anyway the ad’s message wrong:

Whatever you may think about the Mexican-American War, a war fought almost two hundred years ago after Mexico reacted negatively, to say the least, at the democratic decision by Texas to join the United States (after Texas, majority populated by American pioneers and native Americans as Mexicans had not settled that far north in any numbers yet, defeated the Mexican Army under Santa Anna), you cannot argue that the real perfect ending was for those civilians who ended up on the American side of the Rio Grande.

It is un-PC to say, but it is true.

Mexican rule over the Southwest would only have dragged more people into the poverty and lack of democracy that was, and in many ways continues to be, Mexico.

Only in recent memory did Mexico remove its undemocratic ruling party, Mexico is stuck under growth-killing statist policies, its standard of living is merely 24% of America’s and the country is so great in other ways that millions leave every year.

Is that what an Absolut world is like?

If so, I’m just not all that interested.

sex is everywhere but target isn’t

For some reason, people are upset about a Target outdoor board. They say that it is sexual. Perhaps.

If the Target board is sexual, then there is sex everywhere (except in my life). Take this Absolut ad I tracked down at Adrants…look at it with the eyes of your typical middle schooler and tell me that it doesn’t look like a woo-woo no-no place:

The point here, of course, is to make fun of the busybodies who see sex everywhere, in the most basic and mundane comment or gesture or advertisement…and then complain about it. The Target board is not sexual. The Absolut ad is not sexual.

Not that Target is blameless in this whole mess. AdPulp has the goods on their odd non-response to an angry blogger because “Target does not participate with non-traditional media outlets.”

I would have not responded to the angry blogger because they are being ridiculous.

How could Target, a company and brand known and celebrated for having revolutionized branding and the in-store experience for big box retailers, a company considered to be so in touch with trends and their consumer, think that it could opt-out of participating in non-traditional media? They are turning their back on a vocal segment of their consumer base. At their own peril.

consumers do better work than chiat/day, says absolut

Copyranter has the lead on a direct marketing campaign for Absolut Vodka that is soliciting work from “creative professionals” for the next iteration of the new, not all that great, Absolut World campaign.   

For some reason, they think that the ‘ranter is Andy Warhol. Somebody should tell them that Andy Warhol is dead.

And the advertising copywriters, including yours truly, are nothing like Andy Warhol. Though some try to be (especially while drunk at a bar in Midtown where it seems that EVERYONE is posing as – or actually is – a copywriter).

You can pitch them ideas directly, and if you’re lucky (or if you’re an “Exclusive Absolut Visionary”) they might even use yours.

When this whole user-generated content thing began I was a little on the fence about it. On the one hand, it was unique and differentiating to let consumers get involved and actually help to shape the brand. But consumers aren’t professional and much of the stuff that was created wasn’t all that great and, more importantly, not that many people were participating.

From an agency perspective though, it’s bad news. If all you have is the idea to let consumers do the work, what do marketing departments need you for? Dr Pepper’s marketing team already came up with a better marketing idea than Y&R ever did and if the next evolution of advertising is to let consumers (or “creative professionals”) do the work, what is the point of the agency?

To quote Copyranter, “What’s the matter TBWA\Chiat\Day? You creative visionaries out of ideas already?”