This Midas commercial really doesn't belong here.Still, I couldn't resist including it as it persuasively makes the point about why it's better to use transit instead of driving in a Canadian winter.Nicely done, DDB Vancouver.Article and blog, copyright Gavin Barrett

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A classic from my archives, this 1986 poster is an excellent example of destination-focused marketing. Here, it's the London Underground (affectionately - and in this case, playfully - called the Tube), promoting the Tate Gallery. Fine White Line was the

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The summer of 2008 saw the highest gas prices in Canadian historyThe CAA's 2008 Driving Costs Brochure, estimated the total annual cost of driving to be somewhere between $8500 and $15,000 a year. The time was right to remind York Region's

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It's a bloody shampoo, it's not rocket science!Out with moisturizing molecules and herbal hairballs in all their CGI splendour!In with frogs, mmmuahh! 

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A tip of the turban to Dan Nainan, for his multiracial, multicultural, self-deprecating comedy. Some neat insights into how we're all different. And more importantly, how we're all the same.

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A truly classic UK campaign from the late 80s produced for Intercity Rail by (I believe) Collett Dickenson Pearce. Intelligent, articulate, persuasive. It will never seem dated. Apologies for the poor resolution however. My time machine has a screw missing.Article

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A pretty cool, guerilla campaign to announce the launch of Google Transit for Vancouver's TransLink.Agency: Grey Vancouver CanadaCreative Director: Craig RedmondArt Directors: Leah Moy, Wayne LowWriter: Mike LegerPhotographer: Hans Sipma

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This dramatic, effective guerilla stunt makes it rather clear where you should park your car. By Chris Wareham for Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Transit's "Drive Less" campaign. Via Behance.Article and blog, copyright Gavin Barrett 2008.

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This charming spot by Brooklyn director Keef, sees New Yorkers get creative in order to get around. A quirky, hooky soundtrack makes it light and likeable - my god, can you believe that? In transit advertising! The sign off is

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An entertaining take on the major hindu deities. Hindu calendar art meets Stan Lee. Nicely done, and defended by the designer - especially if you understand the simplistic, anti-plural, homogenizing viewpoint of Hindu fundamentalists (oh, the irony! - that this

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East IndianThis extremely irritating (to Indians) term was in common use in Canada and in North America as recently as 1996.It has fallen into relative disuse but still pops up disconcertingly, from time to time in newspapers or government documents.

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Is multicultural creative getting better? Or is it merely going downhill fast? This new commercial for Nationwide Insurance aimed at South Asians in the US is simply not good enough.

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Indian English is English with a smattering of Hindustani - and other Indian languages. Hinglish is Hindustani (itself a hybrid of Hindi and Urdu) with a smattering of English. That's my preferred distinction, and it's the one the Oxford Dictionary

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There are many different descriptions for this hybridized language. This is mine. Hinglish is simply Hindi or Hindustani written in Roman or English script. A paragraph of text written in Hinglish may be peppered with English words - especially such

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ABC is an acronym for American Born Chinese. It has much the same provenance as CBC or Canadian Born Chinese, and has similar pejorative nuances depending on the circumstances in which it is used.Article: Creative Commons License 2008 Gavin Barrett

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Perth's Department of Environment and Conservation went out of their way to show their appreciation of riders who are helping the planet by taking public transport. Riders entering bus shelters activated a motion sensor which triggered recorded applause.Simple, effective, immediate.Advertising

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A CBC is a somewhat less than complimentary acronym for Canadian Born Chinese. CBCs themselves often refer to more recent Chinese with the pejorative FOB (Fresh Off the Boat). Many CBCs do not speak Chinese and are often in conflict

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You've seen the print ads, and read the hype (in my earlier post on Bheja Bazaar). Now take a look at the TV spot. Remember, this is 1990 we're talking about. It's worth a laugh if nothing else. Click here

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Aamir Khan stars as the new spokesperson for Titan Watches, India's biggest watch brand. Unlike many other Bollywood stars, Aamir Khan is a real actor. A well crafted script + a well crafted spot = a great celebrity endorsement. Not

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I'm torn.Here's a brand new campaign from At&t advertising its global roaming capabilities. I've been watching it unfold in the pages of the New York Times over the last few weeks.It's beautiful, visually lush.I believe it is a precursor to

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This one comes from sunny Australia. Damn them for their summer in January. And, oh yeah, their good advertising.Consider this simple immediate ad - for scooters.Not buses/brt/lrt.Still, I thought it illustrated perfectly the advantage of the vehicle over the kind

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A while ago I promised I would feature great ads on this blog from the major multicultural "home markets".By that, I meant ads from India, Hong Kong and China to start with. Ads that show exactly how high the bar

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A funny, direct campaign for the French national Railway SNCF. A classic technique: exaggerate to make a relatively ordinary message memorable.Mind you the train looks nice enough to make you want to believe the claim: you won't miss the road.Article

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A spot with no words, accompanied by a beautiful piece of classical music, makes the Madrid Metro rise below it all. An elegant, restrained, stunningly filmed spot, with a message that's crystal clear. Article and blog, copyright Gavin Barrett 2008.

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A simple, effective campaign done in 2002 by Aaron Kwapisinski, a young art director friend of mine, for the now defunct agency Flavour. In his own words "We took the cost of all the things one would fork out annually

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From a campaign for the Tube in London. Four tubes to sell the Tube.Brilliantly simple. Simply brilliant.Article and blog, copyright Gavin Barrett 2008.

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A now-classic (late 80s), edgy, award-winning TV spot for Oslo transit, promoting monthly passes. Article and blog, copyright Gavin Barrett 2008.

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Bollywood is a phrase the west uses to refer to Indian movies, though in reality it only applies to movies from Bombay (now Mumbai) - hence Bollywood. Bollywood is Singing In the Rain meets Indiana Jones. In a Bollywood movie,

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What are those motivations?Multicultural marketing is even more critical for grocery stores because food is central to the lives of S Asians and Chinese. Among Canada's other immigrants groups, only the Italians and Portuguese place similar emphasis on food, and

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I was talking to Marina Strauss, the Globe and Mail's retail reporter just the other day, and we circled around for quite a bit trying to identify what the issues were with the marketing of grocery stores to multicultural markets.

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Cantonese. White devil. Pale ghost. White demon ghoul. You get the gist.It has lost some of its derisive sting due to its extremely popular, colloquial use in Hong Kong, by English and Cantonese speakers alike. Used in much the same

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White dude. White man. White folks. This catch-all South Asian word is typically used to separate and distinguish, like the Native American paleface but add some spice and it takes on a bad-ass attitude and can be used to effectively

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Putonghua is quite simply Mandarin Chinese for "mandarin chinese."Article: Creative Commons License 2008 Gavin Barrett This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Canada License.

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Guangdonghua is simply Chinese for Cantonese.Guangdong is the Chinese word for Canton. Which itself is simply a European fumbling of Guangdong.Article: Creative Commons License 2008 Gavin Barrett This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.5 Canada License.

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In trade, it's freight on board. In multcultspeak it's fresh off the boat.It's an insulting pejorative term, used much in the same way as hick, redneck, and the now archaic "rube".Article: Creative Commons License 2008 Gavin Barrett This work is

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Somewhere else in northern climes (Copenhagen?), they're doing good advertising for public transit. I give it ****.Article and blog, copyright Gavin Barrett 2008.

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Click on the title of this article to view an excellent interactive map illustrating immigration and mother tongue data from the StatsCan report on the 2006 Census. (Courtesy the Canadian Press, via CBC.)While checking it out, keep in mind this

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The 2006 census shows that between 2001 and 2006:58.3 per cent of all immigrants came from Asia, including the Middle East.16.1 per cent came from Europe.10.8 per cent came from the Caribbean, and Central and South America.And 10.6 per cent

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