The last weeks Argentina has been talking about ‘the curious case of Javier Mascherano’. Mascherano is a famous Argentinean football player playing for Liverpool FC, captain of the national team and known for his mental and fysical strength. The buzz occurred when Argentinean journalist Luis Dapelo began to release material of an extensive research on Mascherano.
Dapelo started his research when he received a note saying ‘tell them the truth’. The note came with a file containing Mascherano’s medical records revealing some strange results. Check out pictures of the document here. The medical results showed that Mascherano had such a great fysical condition there were doubts whether this could be natural. After receiving more secret information about a suspicious looking hospital the journalist found this picture of Mascherano with a big scar on his chest.
It turned out to be one of the few pictures of Mascherano showing his chest. Together with this draw by a doctor showing the incridible distances Mascherano runs during a match the main question was ‘How is it possible Mascherano runs that much?!’
Journalist Luis Dapelo made movies during his research and released those movies on his blog ‘El Caso Mascherano’. The videos found their way to YouTube and to the national media which invited Dapelo to tell his story in many different television programs.
The reactions of the audience were strong. Basically Dapelo accused their beloved player of being a phony. Those reactions got even stronger (and funnier) when Dapelo revealed the results of his research after receiving more information: Mascherano got his incredible fysical condition from the latest technology Multijet engine by Fiat!
The curious case of Javier Mascherano is a very succesful viral campaign using different media to tell an original story. The journalist Luis Dapelo does not exist, but was given an identity by creating a LinkedIn-profile, a Facebook-page, a Flickr-account and a Twitter-account (which could have been used better). In a televisionized country like Argentina where football is one of the favorite topics this viral campaign was highly successful. A part of the time on television was paid for, but the biggest part was based on free publicity.
Funny thing is that even after it got really obvious it was a campaign for Fiat, people still believed Dapelo was a real journalist. They asked how Mascherano could pass the metal detectors at airports and if the Gatorade power drink contained petrol in Mascherano’s case to keep his engine running. People also started to make very entertaining spoofs of the campaign.
Great work by Fiat and agency Leo Burnett lead by Sebastián Olivieri and Pablo Capara. Check the official campaign blog on the Caso Mascherano here.
After the celebration of 60 Years of Soles & StripesAdidas Originals Argentina decided it was time for a fresh layer of paint in their store in Palermo, Buenos Aires. Instead of doing it the traditional way they asked local artists Gualicho and Pum Pum to decorate the shop. Pum Pum painted his characteristic rebellious and naieve figures in the fantasy world created by Gualicho. The result is a balanced combination of art and marketing which should inspire more companies. In a globalized world were most shopping streets look the same the collaboration of brands with local artists is the way to go. Both from an ethical, design and commercial point of view.
For a long time now I am a fan of the beautiful work of Argentinean communication and (digital) design studio Fausta from Buenos Aires. I am very impressed by the Latin American design in general and in this case specifically Argentinean graphic design. To me it combines an incredible creativity with a colorful simplicity. Fausta is a young studio which combines this design with new views on communication. Fausta is formed by María Luisa García Collazo, Karen Brownell and Sabrina Prieto Blanco.
I could not wait to work with them and my new personal website is the first result of this collaboration. But there is more to come and this will be challenging project for El Desafio Foundation.
Without trying to be offensive to those who really got ill (or worse) from swine flu or H1N1, the current hysteria as experienced in Argentina might be a bit too much. You can’t turn on radio or television without hearing warnings about the new flu. Apparently in Europe will get the worse part this winter. But the flu ain’t that nu! In 1976 authorities in the US already warned for the swine flu by a series of quite entertaining ads. Entertaining as long as you are healthy that is.
During my high school period I wrote a paper on naturalism in the music of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg. It might sound very abstract, but it took my attention how I could hear for example the Norwegian fjords in Grieg’s work.
Listening to Lisandro Aristimuño gives me the same experience. This 27 years old singer-songwriter was born in Rio Negro in the south of Argentina. Rio Negro is located north of Patagonia where the colorful, solemn, natural beauty is really overpowering. Aristimuño translates this beautiful landscape into very original songs. Mixing Argentina’s diverse folkloric music gently with electronics into sensitive and charateristic pop songs. It is this mix that allows you to mind travel from Patagonia to Buenos Aires and beyond. It’s really original music that deserves to be heard by a wider audience.
Great news is that Aristimuño will be playing in Antwerp on Wednesday May, 6th in the Arenberg. This is one of the few times he is performing in a non Spanish speaking country, so don’t miss it. Oh, and for the €12 you will get to hear Anne Hukkelberg too. She is from Norway, the country of the fjords.
De hitte in Argentinië geeft je vaak het gevoel te smelten, maar in dit geval gaat het om een campagne voor het Argentijnse Rode Kruis. In de straten van Buenos Aires vraagt de smeltende man de aandacht van de voorbijgangers om op een verantwoordelijkere manier met het milieu om te gaan. Iets dat je men overigens in Argentinië nog wel vaker mag roepen.
Op 3 december organiseert El Desafio Foundation het evenement ‘Otra Parte’ in Rosario, Argentinië. Het doel van deze presentatie is El Desafio voor te stellen aan de inwoners van de stad waar wij werken. Dagelijks staan de kranten hier vol van negatieve berichten over moorden, overvallen, armoede, etc. Al deze negativiteit overschaduwt de positieve ontwikkelingen die er ook zijn en waar El Desafio er één van is. We zullen dan ook een ‘otra parte’ van de realiteit laten zien en de Rosarinos inspireren om aan een betere toekomst van anderen en zichzelf te werken.
Het wordt een presentatie a la El Desafio met video’s, muziek van San Telmo Lounge, de murga van de El Desafio-kids, medewerking van Olympisch atlete en onze ambassadrice Alejandra Garcia en nog veel meer. De foto’s volgen…
Creativiteit en armoede:
Argentinië heeft het allebei.
Tijdens AGRIDULCE in Hotel Arena krijg je de mix van de zure en zoete kanten van Argentinië te proeven.
Speciaal voor El Desafio Foundation komt electrotango band San Telmo Lounge uit Rosario voor de eerste keer naar Nederland. De Argentijnse groep mixt de Argentijnse ritmes van de tango, milonga en murga met elektronica en rock tot een geheel waarop je niet stil kunt blijven zitten. Geniet verder van de kunst van de Nederlands-Argentijnse kunstenares Aimée Zito Lema, laat je toekomst voorspelen door Isabel Capelli, proef Argentijnse delicatessen en help El Desafio bij het creëren van een betere toekomst voor kinderen in nood in Rosario, Argentinië.
Tickets kosten €10,- en zijn te bestellen door een mailtje te sturen naar agridulce@eldesafio.org. Daarnaast zijn kaarten verkrijgbaar bij:
OK, ik heb een zwak voor Nike. Ik ben ten prooi gevallen aan de grote marketingmachine van de sportkledinggigant uit Oregon. Onderstaand filmpje is een voorbeeld van hoe Nike je niet slechts een paar schoenen, maar een lifestyle verkoopt. “Days of running alone are over”. Een mooie sociale gedachte die me motiveert, maar ik ga verder…
Op zondag 6 april zal ik de 10km rennen tijdens de NikeHilversumCityRun ten behoeve van El Desafio Foundation. Je kunt me sponsoren via een voorbeeld van echte sociale media: Geefsamen.nl Via mijn online profiel is het super eenvoudig om geld te doneren. “Days of running alone are over”, maar dat hangt mede af van jullie! Thanks!
