Ramblings of a Marketing Mind

Hey, finally making a quick, much anticipated (mainly by me) comeback to my blog! And to celebrate the occasion, I’d like to reminisce about something that happened to me a long time ago, when I was a teenager: one day, a friend’s daughter (she was about 6 years younger than me) anxiously asked if I liked Alyssa Milano. She was dead serious about it. Back then I only had a slight idea of who Alyssa Milano was (the girl who played Arnold Schwarzenegger’s daughter in “Commando”, right?) and I did think she was cute, so I told her so. She immediately sighed with sincere relief, so I asked her why she was interested about it. She explained that Alyssa Milano was dating Corey Haim, and if I liked her I could date Alyssa so Corey would be free to date her. Yes, she was absolutely certain of this. That was a very enlightening moment about the workings of a young teenage girl’s mind, but more importantly, it was also a lesson about the perception that people have about ...

If there’s something that really, really bothers me, are people my own age acting as if they were old. I’m only 42, and I’m already surrounded by self-appointed pipe-smoking old men, cat ladies and old maids. What’s wrong with these people? I’ve never really felt old at my age (because I ain’t!) Hugh Jackman (who’s less than 2 years my senior) in his first “The Wolverine” photos, became a wake-up call for me to shape up again (not to mention Daniel Craig’s physical condition in Skyfall- who’s also 2 years older than me). I believe attitude is EVERYTHING! If you feel old at 40 (or 50, or 60, or… shall I continue?), man, you are really not getting it. And to prove my point, here’s a list of people I truly admire for keeping active, current and with a positive attitude (there are a lot more, but these are the ones that truly stand out for me): STAN LEE: I didn't meet either of my grandfathers. But damn, I wish one of them had been like Stan the man (as a matter of ...

Working for the movie industry, many times I’ve been asked this question by different people. It usually gets me to re-think which one to choose above all others. And every time I come back to one conclusion, which for no specific reason feels embarrassingly clichéd (especially when talking to more serious movie connoisseurs like my professional film critic friends). But here it is. My most favorite, number one movie ever is: The Empire Strikes Back. Yes, Chapter V in the Star Wars saga. There, I’ve said it. And the more I think about it, the more I realize there are plenty of reasons for that particular movie to have a special place in my heart. It is not only because it came out in 1980, when I was at the impressionable age of 10, and not just because it was the follow-up to the original, commercially successful Star Wars phenomenon. No, it actually has A LOT to offer as a movie, thinking about movies as the sheer escapist entertainment they should be....

I thought this was an appropriate subject to kick off 2012. During one end-of-year gathering with friends, somebody mentioned Saint George had been removed from the Catholic Sanctoral, and that started out a heated debate. I’ve been checking references on the issue, but there doesn’t seem to be anything online, so I guess it was a false alarm (if someone has additional information about this, please let me know). Anyway, as most people who know me are aware of, I don’t consider myself Catholic (I embraced agnosticism years ago), however I still believe symbols carry the power we confer unto them and one of my Catholic upbringing favorite vestiges is Saint George (along with Saint Judas , for completely different reasons). I love the imagery of the saint valiantly slaying the dragon, because I believe it’s a great allegory of how we should overtake the challenges in our lives. We constantly face tasks, problems, sorrows, fears and whatnot that sometimes seem too...

In this age of political correctness, it’s hard not to offend someone. Almost every day you read about some actor, public figure or politician who said or did something that “offended” some group (some of these are more radical and aggressive in their response than others). A few years ago a friend of mine sent me an e-mail, copying our circle of common acquaintances, about the Christian vision of Halloween as a Satanic celebration, and why, according to them, decorating your house for the holiday is a way of inviting evil into your home. Whoo, boy, do we decorate our house. Halloween has always been a big deal for me, and that message I received was questioning that (in a friendly way, I have to admit). I did not feel offended or attacked in the least (frankly, I couldn’t care less). I’m always open to all points of view… however it did make me curious. Years ago I did my research about the origins of Halloween and discovered it’s a mish-mash of various beliefs a...

This will be a quickie, but I really wanted to write about this. A few years ago, between 1997 and 2001, I worked for a small advertising agency called González de la Vega & Associates. It was so small, my work was not limited by my title of Associate Creative Director (i.e. they had me multi-tasking without paying me more, but I didn’t really mind). One of my roles was drawing cartoon characters for different brands and miscellaneous advertising materials. Back then we had the Fiesta Ice account (the kind you buy in bags at convenience stores and gas stations). I drew a very sketchy ice cube character which fortunately was immediately approved. From that, as part of the campaign, I drew various different poses and situations which, to my surprise, are still present on their packaging, POS and distribution refrigerated trucks. I visited their website  a couple of weeks ago and found some familiar faces there… the characters have lost their outline quality when they animat...

Here’s my 5 cents of cheap career advice. The other day some friends and I were discussing professional opportunities, choices, plans, decisions... Some people think it’s better to focus on the here and now, after all, no one knows if and what opportunities may arise in the future. They believe they have to do their best at what they currently do and then things will eventually sort themselves out for them. I believe that’s leaving too much to chance. On the other end of the spectrum, there are the Luke Skywalkers- “ All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was… ” as Yoda so succinctly put it. These are the ones who start a new job thinking about what other position they covet and what other companies may be interested in them, without truly devoting themselves to their current chores.  I’m more of a Qui-Gon-Jin person: Obi-Wan : … Master Yoda says I should be mindful of the future. Qui-Gon Jinn : But not at the expense of t...