Yet arrest of illegal immigrants crossing have decreased by 23 percent this past year. A trend many attest to the faltering U.S. economy as well as the billions of dollars spent in “securing” our border with Mexico since September 11th.
The 10% unemployment rate and erosion of construction jobs that once lured many Latinos has certainly put downward pressure on immigration, but that’s not the whole story.
Let’s be honest.
Immigrant labor not only built this country, but also pulled it out of a great depression and an economy which was ravished by two world wars. However, the current financial crisis poses new challenges to immigrants and natives alike. Particularly when it comes to entrepreneurship, and more precisely – the accessibility of credit/funds to create new business ventures.
The post-recession economy could be a tremendous opportunity for Latinos, if only the financial doors were open.
Everyone knows that credit is tight, but it’s even tighter for Latinos.
How tight you ask?
Well, less than a 10th of 1 percent of available credit goes to Latino business men and women. A staggeringly low number considering Latinos will comprise a majority of the labor force in the U.S. within the next 20 to 30 years.
If you want to grow an economy…why not put money into the hands of those bi-cultural Latinos who have the flexibility to navigate and manage the increasingly multicultural U.S. economy?
Want to hear something crazy…
The current and expected growth amongst Latinos isn’t due to immigration, it’s due to natural birth in the country.
So how about we take some of the $10.9 billion we spent last year trying to build fences to keep Latinos out, and open up the financial doors to the Latino business men and women who will be the harbingers of growth in the post-recession economy. Just a thought.
No jobs? No problem. We’ll do what we’ve always manage to do…
Create opportunity.
Fence along the US-Mexico border, borders arrests have declined 23% from 2008 to 2009.
At least this is what a new initative – thefuntheory.com – by VW is questioning.
Whether it is for oneself, the environment, or something completely unheard of…the people at VW simply want people to change their behavior for the better.
So, how are they going to do this?
By shifting the way you perceive or experience simple everyday task more. the VW folks hope you will change the way you go about living your daily life.
Check out the link above and see how fun and interactive walking stairs can be.
Kinda reminds me of the scene in Big staring Tom Hanks. It premiered in 1988. Wait, did I just date myself…oh well.
By 2050 the Latino population is expected to triple. What exactly does this mean?
For some it means more buying power, for others it means a louder voice, and for an unfortunate few it also means a new threat to the American way of life.
The truth is that Latinos today are helping to shape our country in new and interesting ways. From Dora the Explore to Ugly Betty we are mainstream.
This doesn’t come without some consequences, and burdens that many people fail to see. But in the Latino community is no different than previous generations of immigrants trying to achieve their version of the American dream.
So, today we encourage you to tune in to the premiere of Latino in America – a CNN in-depth look at how Latinos are changing the nation and how the New America is evolving to become some thing bigger and better.
It’s America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.
On Saturday, October 10th, President Obama took the podium at National Annual HRC’s Dinner.
It was very inspiring and refreshing to hear a modern leader speak about this issue. He made it crystal clear that he is a strong ally to the community. He not only understands but encourages activism even in the midst of frustration with the current pace of change.
Check out the video below and let us know what he thinks:
At Adrenalina we strive to be the voice for the new America. As a result, we recently started to study – internally – the lives of transformative figures such as Ghandi, John F. Kennedy and President Obama. This list could go on…
So, it should come as no surprise that a new documentary by HBO title “By The People: The Election of Barack Obama” has caught our attention.
by the people - an hbo documentary
The message President Obama projects is simple. It’s one of unification and hope, something many in this country may not want to hear.
So we would like to charge you…or rather ask you to look deep within your soul and ponder not just about the path of this country but the direction of humanity if all its citizens failed to come together and were succumbed to a hopeless state.
We live in a world where we don’t know our neighbors anymore; we don’t volunteer or get involved in community activities. We’ve become apathetic and separate from each other, afraid to cross an unknown street or even reach across a table to open ourselves up to new experiences. But all this is not the fault of the American or Corporate political system – even though they’ve had their share.
Yet it’s understandable. Most of us are weary of politics, politicians, old school business models and corrupt businessmen. They’ve used divisive plots and spin machines to separate us down the lines of gender, race and religion, but we have a chance, at this moment, to put all of this behind us. We are on the brink of a historic break through in America where one man has gathered a coalition of people together of all race, gender and class to tell the world that we can be strong again. This is what makes President Obama so special and unique.
He inspires us to care about each other and to hold each other up in the face of tragedy, insurmountable hurdles and a country that is literally broken.
Do we dare to care about each other again?
Do we dare to dream that we could all be proud of ONE AMERICA?
Barack Obama challenges us to believe again, “that there is not a liberal America or a conservative America, but the UNITED STATES of AMERICA”, that “there is not a white America, a brown America or a black America, there is the United States of America.”
You can certainly turn a deaf ear to this, but I wonder why anyone would?
Today we challenge you to…Listen, Hope, Believe and keep changing the status quo.
“We are the ones we’ve been waiting for . . . Yes We Can!”
If you haven’t seen the previews we encourage you to take a look.
But, marketers are hoping that Quick Response or QR codes will be the way to code the future.
A QR code is unique in that it can have a variety of information embedded in it such as a website or blog url, message, phone number or even a promotional coupon.
Pretty cool right? It’s a fusion of technology and advertising bridging consumers with various products and services.
But how does it work?
Simple, by using a QR code reader – software which you have to download onto your mobile phone – you can then scan a QR picture with your camera phone and your mobile device will automatically redirect you to the information stored in the code.
In the near future you’re going to see more QR codes on street advertisement, billboards, games and even on apparel such as t-shirts, hats and scarfs.
What’s even more interesting is the fact that these codes and their use in marketing are really nothing new to the Asian market. QR codes are already a part of everyday society in Japan. As always the U.S. is lagging on not just technology but on many applications that could potentially drive people to other products and offerings.
If you would like to get your own QR code you can go to Kaywa – that’s where we got ours – featured above.
Want to see more info on how these codes work? Click on the video below and don’t forget to let us know what you think.
Making the A-list has never been easy, but Adrenalina proves it has what it takes.
Just about a week ago, a selected few Adrenalinos were sighted outside the famous Creative Artists Agency. Rumor has it that there may be a possible future collaboration in the works. But you didn’t hear that from us.
For those of you who may not be familiar with Creative Artists; It was founded in 1975, and is considered to be Hollywood’s foremost agency in the sports and entertainment industry. It represents such A-list film and sports clients such as Steven Spielberg, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Lebron James and Shakira.
The shop is synonymous with stardom!
As you can see from the pics above, our stars were taking it all in. Featured on the spotlight is Manuel Wernicky, president and chief ideas officer, along with a few members of his supporting cast; Jules Aspesi, Victor Zeiris, and Brian Marville.
Have you heard of either blaubo.com or microtyp.org?
Don’t worry if you haven’t. Until recently we hadn’t either. That’s why we wanted to share the newest and creative ways that users are innovating on Google Maps API’s (applications) – (you know when you’re lost, and need to look up something…you tend to look it up on Google Maps, at least we do.) – and taking them to the next level.
www.microtyp.org
blaubo design
When you go to Blaubo design, you’re greeted by a collage of small screen shots of different websites. It’s layout is interesting and non-traditional. Once you are there you’ll quickly see that Blaubo is portfolio of various websites and quick links that will redirect you, if you select one of them. The cool things about this is how the designer is using the Google Maps application in order to let you the user either zoom in or out, move left or right, or even simply just grab the page and drag it around. Check it out and play around with the page. You’ll understand.
Similar to Blaubo, Microtyp.org is another neat example of how Google Maps API’s (applications) are growing beyond simple map display use. Designer Markus Dressen lets you grab, drag and snoop around his desk on the website, which is a collage of his favorite books. It shows that the API can also be used to pan around large images as well. Maybe we’ll have to find a way to display our creative portfolio like this.
What do you think?
Also, as a side note, if you haven’t noticed both sites are “powered by Google.” There’s a little caption on the bottom of each page. Great way for Google to endorse and leverage its brand without splashing its name all over the websites.
Thanks Yoplait and Publicis Modem, for going outside the boundaries of traditional marketing and advertising and doing your part to bring social awareness to an issue that affects millions of young and older women around the globe – breast cancer.
For all those out there, this spot doesn’t just highlight ta-tas or how we say in Spanish, Chi-Chi’s, but for also serves as a calling to all women to to take a pledge to themselves and their bodies. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death among females 15 to 54. It’s a pretty big age gap, I know.
But this is great way to not only generate social awareness but also encourage women to take charge of their bodies given the fact that many young women think this sort of thing simply can’t happen to them.
Best of all…you no longer have to send in yogurt lids. All you have to do is TAKE THE PLEDGE. Find them on Facebook.
Most people seem confused when I tell them that I graduated with a degree in International Politics but decided to work in advertising; they don’t see a link between the two. On the other hand, some people cynically point out how natural it is, given that advertisers, diplomats and politicians all depend on their ability to manipulate audiences. “Bullshit by any other name” they seem to say.
Maybe at some point in time this argument was valid, but thanks to agencies like Adrenalina, times are a-changin’.
As an intern at Adrenalina, I’ve had the chance to see firsthand how the new generation of communication agencies not only goes beyond advertising, taking cues from fields like anthropology, politics, and biology, but also works hard to create platforms where relationships between a brand and consumer are based on meaningful dialogue and culturally relevant work.
Working with the cognitive and cultural studies (strategy) team, my primary task was to question every existing notion on how people interact with the world and each other, and like an amateur detective, try to find that single human truth that’s going to help answer how a brand can better relate to an individual, his needs and aspirations, in a constructive way. My days consisted of reading anything from anthropology white papers to blogs on tailgating, immersing myself in all kinds of media, and more importantly, going out and talking to people within their experience.
I am particularly proud of the work the other interns and I presented to the agency on secondary targets for Tecate, and my own presentation analyzing the latest trends in social and cultural research. I even had the chance to work on a personal project about the intersection of advertising agency models and the public diplomacy practice.
Alas, the best thing about Adrenalina, apart from being able to wear sneakers every day and the happy hours, is the great team of people working there. Perhaps it’s a business necessity, to create an atmosphere where great people can be creative and constantly produce great work in tight deadlines, but the fact that the minimalist-stylized space in 411 Lafayette St. feels less like an office and more like a room out of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory – laughter, a sense of wonderment, and the occasional impromptu dance number in the hallway are commonplace – gives credit to the idea that great advertising it’s not about the work, but the people and the process behind it.
If you want to call it bullshit, then don’t mind the splat on the side of my mouth; it’s all I ever could want in a job.
