BROWNSVILLE, Texas - Cingular Wireless LLC pulled a ringtone from its Web site Tuesday after learning that it carried a message the company called "blatantly offensive."
The Atlanta-based cell phone company became aware of the ringtone, which uses mixed English and Spanish and threatens deportation, after an inquiry from a reporter for The Brownsville Herald.
The newspaper reported in its online edition Tuesday that the ringtone started with a siren, followed by a male voice saying in a Southern drawl, "This is la Migra," a slang term for the Border Patrol.
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"Por favor, put the oranges down and step away from the cell phone. I repeat-o, put the oranges down and step away from the telephone-o. I'm deporting you back home-o," the voice continued.
Hispanic activists called the product racist.
"It's horribly offensive and a disgusting thing," Brent Wilkes, national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens, told the newspaper.
Cingular removed the $2.49 ringtone, among thousands available for downloading from its Web site, Tuesday afternoon, said company spokesman Mark Siegel.
"Needless to say, we deeply regret and apologize for it ever being there in the first place. The ringtone is blatantly offensive," he said.
The ringtone became available between late February or early March and was downloaded eight times, Siegel said. It was developed by Barrio Mobile, Siegel said. Barrio Mobile is a brand owned by Lagardere Active North American, the U.S. division of a French media company.
Cingular officials were reviewing the process used to screen ringtones, which are developed by several other companies, he said.
Posted by: Wolfman
Wusses.
Posted by: CJIS
WHAAAH WHAAAH!!
Big deal if you don't like the ring tone don't use it! This is America we have a thing called "FREE SPEECH." If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen or in this case the county.
Posted by: JoninNH
I agree. If you don't like it get the fuck out of MY country. BTW... where can I get that ring tone?
Posted by: CJIS
Google it?
Posted by: sempergumby
I want that ring tone. That is fucking funny o
Posted by: kwflatbed
Cingular Says Pulled Ringtone Was Satire
BROWNSVILLE, Texas
The company that developed the lyrics for a ringtone about deportation apologized Thursday after Cingular Wireless LLC pulled it for being offensive.
Barrio Mobile said the ringtone "La Migra" _ a slang term for Border Patrol agent _ was satire and shouldn't be taken seriously.
Mexican-American comic Paul Saucido wrote the ringtone that features a male voice, acting as a Border Patrol agent with a Southern drawl, saying, "I repeat-o, put the oranges down and step away from the telephone-o. I'm deporting you back home-o."
"His position is that people of Hispanic background need to maintain a sense of humor about the immigration situation," said Jonathan Dworkin, a vice president of Cellfish Media, which distributed the ringtone.
Cingular pulled the ringtone from its Web site Tuesday. Barrio Mobile and Cellfish Media are owned by Lagardere Active North American, the U.S. division of a French media company.
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