1:00 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · business|Controversia|Marketing|mexico|Politics|society|Spain|World
14 Apr 2009
Burger King has pissed off Mexico’s Ambassador to Spain because of a new ad campaign running in that country for a product called the “Texican Whopper”. Ambassador Jorge Zermeno wrote to Burger King in Spain to denounce what he called “denigration” of the Mexican flag.
“This advertisement denigrates the image of our country and uses improperly Mexico’s national flag,” Jorge Zermeno wrote in a letter to Burger King in Spain, the Reforma newspaper reported on Monday.The ambassador contacted the local offices of Burger King after he saw the posters in Spain, Reforma said. The burger is only available in Europe, according to the paper.
Mexico has strict laws prohibiting the defamation of the flag, Zermeno said. He asked Burger King to cancel the ad campaign that “offends Mexicans and Mexico.”
You might remember from numerous posts on VL over the past few years that Mexico doesn’t like people doing weird things with their flag, and this offense can be punishable with harsh fines and even jail time.
Reuters reports that Zermeno’s complaint was related to posters (image above) for the campaign found around Madrid, but I wonder if he’s seen the TV version (video after the jump) – which from the looks of it was created for the U.S. or Canadian market — as it’s much worse.
Via / Reuters
VivirLatino is a daily publication published by Mamita Mala Media, dedicated to featuring all the latest politics, culture, entertainment of interest to the diverse Latin@ diaspora.
About | Advertise with us | Contact | Twitter
3 Responses to Mexican Government Up in Arms Over Burger King Ad
Maegan la Mala
April 14th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
um have you noticed just how damn nasty that sandwich looks too.
Yamil
April 14th, 2009 at 10:56 pm
Maybe they thought they were promoting immigration and unity? It wouldn’t surprise me if that argument Is used to defend what is really distasteful (pun intended) and ineffective ad campaign.
Jennifer Woodard Maderazo
April 15th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
Indeed, the product is disgusting-looking, and the campaign is terrible. Bad combo.