The Swedish vodka company known for its memorable advertising has stirred a bit of controversy in the United States with an ad running in Mexico that shows what the two countries would look like “in an Absolut world.”

Some have called the ad offensive, but can it really be that offensive that Mexicans would imagine a perfect world as one in which they hadn’t lost half of their country?

Update: A Truthdig reader points out that in an “Absolut world,” Panama remains independent from Colombia.

Los Angeles Times:

The campaign taps into the national pride of Mexicans, according to Favio Ucedo, creative director of leading Latino advertising agency Grupo Gallegos in the U.S.

Ucedo, who is from Argentina, said: “Mexicans talk about how the Americans stole their land, so this is their way of reclaiming it. It’s very relevant and the Mexicans will love the idea.”

But he said that were the campaign to run in the United States, it might fall flat.

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