MEXICO CITY (AP) – Warning: If a co-worker or stranger suddenly jumps up and starts singing Wednesday, don’t be alarmed. They aren’t crazy. They are just Mexicans participating in a worldwide call to song to celebrate 150 years of their national anthem.

An ad campaign is calling on all Mexicans – wherever they are – to stop what they are doing at noon Wednesday (1 p.m. EDT), the eve of Mexico’s Independence Day, and sing the rousing ode to war and country.

While the campaign is primarily aimed at celebrating the anthem, it has another motive: uniting a country increasingly divided by everything from politics to crime.

“There is a crisis of dishonesty, fragmentation, crime,” said Erwin Salas Juarez, a spokesman for the nonprofit council organizing the campaign. “We have to unite society.”

Organizers hope that on Wednesday, offices will grind to a halt in the capital, Mexicans visiting the Eiffel Tower will stop taking photos, and farmers will look up from their fields to join in the anthem’s first words: “Mexicans, at the cry of battle prepare your swords and bridle; and let the earth tremble at its center at the roar of the cannon.”

German Castelan, 20, a university student looking for part-time work in Mexico City, said he has nothing to celebrate and won’t be singing.

“I’m not really into it right now because there isn’t even work,” he said.

Many other Mexicans liked the idea. Mexico is a strongly patriotic country that celebrates everything from its 1917 Constitution (Feb. 5) to its 1910 revolution (Nov. 20). Sept. 16, which marks Mexico’s 1810 independence from Spain, is perhaps the most patriotic of the nation’s holidays.

This is the time of year when Mexicans dine on chilies in nogada – stuffed green chilis decorated with a white sauce and pomegranates, reflecting the country’s colors: red, white and green. Flag sellers flood the streets, pushing carts packed with knickknacks.

Every Sept. 15, thousands flock to Mexico City’s main square, shouting “Viva Mexico!”

While Mexico’s government isn’t sponsoring the anthem campaign, Salas said it was involved in the planning, and government officials said they support the idea. Officials hope to take the song beyond Mexico’s borders.

Television commercials promoting the campaign show a man on what appears to be an international flight unfolding himself from his seat, rubbing sleep from his eyes, and then solemnly singing the anthem despite quizzical looks from other passengers.

Daytime variety shows have featured children singing the anthem, often off-key. And radio spots urge everyone to participate, maintaining the song sounds better with hundreds of thousands of voices.

Raul Garcia, a 31-year-old telecommunications equipment producer, said he plans to belt out the anthem “with strength and gusto.”

“I like anything that has to do with Mexican traditions,” he said.

He said that if other Mexicans join in, it would be a sign that the country hasn’t lost its friendly nature.

Garcia worries that bickering political parties, kidnappings and corruption have hardened and divided a nation known for the saying “Mi casa es su casa” – “My house is your house.”

The anthem isn’t without controversy. Several years back, there were reports that rights to at least part of the song are owned by a U.S. entity. Government officials now say they cannot confirm who owns the rights.

The lyrics were written by a Mexican native, Francisco Gonzalez Bocanegra; Jaime Nuno, a Spaniard by birth came up with the score.

Mexican children are required to sing the song every Monday morning in school. But that doesn’t mean everyone remembers all the words.

Ricardo Coria, a 34-year-old office worker, said he doubted most Mexicans know more than the chorus. But he plans to sing anyway.

“We’ve lost a lot of our nationalism,” he said, crossing the street as the anthem was played during a ceremony at Mexico City’s Independence Angel Monument. He blamed the growing foreign influence in Mexico, and motioned to U.S. company signs ringing the monument, including Sheraton International and American Express.

“Soon, they’ll be tacking signs to the base of the Angel,” he said.

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On the Net:

Anthem music: http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/8106/Anthems/mexico.htm

Anthem words: http://www.inside-mexico.com/anthem.htm

AP-ES-09-13-04 1346EDT