Aeromexico, Mexico’s largest commercial airline, is offering fare discounts on travel south of the border for Americans who have Mexican heritage. The greater the percentage of a Yank’s Hispanic blood, the steeper the discount.
As advertisements go, this one is simply brilliant. Not because Americans are now more inclined to travel to an often unstable, notoriously corrupt region, infested with drug and gang violence, to vacay on policia federale-patrolled beaches, but because tongues are wagging across all forms of media. [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=”24″]…safe-place and feel-goody, until those pesky geneticists throw science into the discussion. [/perfectpullquote]
It’s a Mexican version of the United Colors of Benetton — the global fashion brand based in Italy that capitalized on ads promoting racial harmony before millennials were spawned.
It’s so safe-place and feel-goody, until those pesky geneticists throw science into the discussion. Blaine Bettinger of Baldwinsville, NY, is one such genetic genealogist and the advertising agency’s worst party-pooper. As he claims, “It’s an impossibility to really identify anyone’s DNA to be ‘Mexican.’”
Those science types are prickly about facts.
Madison Avenue – Mexico Satellite Office
New York ad agency Ogilvy — a biggie in the business of selling products; despising conservative views, especially those of President Trump; and spreading far left indoctrination across every discipline in 21st -century media — is the Wizard behind the green curtain.
Imagine that.
The two-minute ad targeted Texans for their anti-open borders views and dislike of illegals – despite enjoying Tex-Mex food and Corona beer (who doesn’t?) – and offered to test their DNA and share results on camera. To be fair, the giants in the consumer DNA testing industry, 23andMe and Ancestry, were not part of the process or the analysis of gathered spit samples.
And Bettinger, forever to be known as Aeromexico’s thorn in the side, explained that it is easier to distinguish between continents of origin but harder to drill down to specific countries or regions. That’s almost impossible.
He is an expert on the subject. When he claims, “Mexico is no less of a melting pot than the United States. There’s no such thing as United States DNA, so why would there be Mexican DNA? It doesn’t make any sense,” whom are you going trust – science or Madison Avenue?
Perhaps Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) should have consulted with Bettinger and Ogilvy before her disastrous DNA debacle.
The AeroMexico ad showcases the metamorphosis of illegal-haters into warm and fuzzy humans forever changed by the notion of ancestry skewed to reflect a sales pitch.
Original interviews garnered comments from “The idea of going to Mexico is not something I would foresee” and “That’s not my cup of tea” to “Let me stay here in peace, and let those folks stay on their side of the border.”
But when the results were unveiled, Oh. My. God. The humanity was visceral. But no one grabbed a phone to a book a flight either, despite the offer of a 22% discount by a really pasty white guy.
It’s junk science.
As our old friend Bettinger said, “I don’t think they can do what they did. I think it’s in part unethical to do that because in the Americas — in Mexico and the U.S. and Canada — we’re very diverse, which is a very good thing.”
Kudos to Creatives
Despite the comic relief of the ad itself, travel to Mexico probably will not increase by those who want a border wall. But Aeromexico isn’t desperate for visitors to Mexico – passenger traffic throughout Latin America, the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia – is on a steady incline: The airline boasts of 17.1 million passengers in 2014 and 21.9 million in 2018.
Perhaps this ad was intended as sarcasm, hurtfully poking fun at Texans, while hoping for an ADDY or a Clio award at the next gala. While capitalizing on the latest trend of DNA testing for genealogical purposes, this ad teeters between insulting and unethical, but it does have folks talking.
David Ogilvy, the father of advertising on Madison Avenue, would often boast, “We sell. Or else.” Ah, yes, his legacy continues after death — all the way to the bank and back again.
