Panama Goes Metric

The law that Panama will shift to an all-metric system is slowly being implemented. Given that most products already have both metric and US Customary Units/Imperial measurements and most construction workers are bi-measural working in both inches and meters, the biggest impact will be that we will start buying gasoline, like most of the rest of the world, in liters.

As of Sunday, March 17, 2013, all fuels in Panama would be sold by the liter instead of the traditional U.S. gallon.  Javier Arias, director of the National Methodology Center of Panama (Cenamet), said the change in the conversion of gallons to liters does not represent in any way, shape or form, a price increase, it’s only changes the way you order the product.

Arias explained that all they are doing is converting the price per gallon with international conversion factor (3.78541178) to convert gallons to liters.

The service stations will work from March 17 until April 30 when full adaptation of the new system should by ready across the country On May 1, 2013, all fuel sales should be made using the liter as the unit of measurement to comply with the regulations of the World Trade Organization—WTO (Sistema Internacional de Unidad de Medidas de Panamá).

This adoption of liters is based on Law 52 of December 11, 2007 which allowed Panama a period of up to  five years to carry out the new system known as “Sistema Internacional de Unidad de Medidas de Panamá” (Panama International Measurements of Units).  It will be mandatory for all service stations to post their prices in liters with three decimal points to insure accuracy in the conversion of gallons to liters.

On March 21, I went out to the city to find out if the service stations were indeed changing to liters.  Not really, all the service stations visited were marketing their fuels in U.S. gallons as shown in the picture below.

BEFORE:

Snapshot of a Puma service station at the entrance El Bosque where we live, posting their fuels in U.S. gallons. This picture was taken on March 21, 2013. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

On April 2, 2013, I finally found out that all Puma service stations in Panama City had switched to the new metric system.  You could see their prices posted in liters with three decimal systems for the sake of accuracy.  Take a look.

AFTER:

Snapshot of a Puma service station posting its fuel prices in liters with three decimal systems in Panama City, Panama. I noticed not all service stations had made the switch. They have until April 30, 2013 to make the conversion or else they will be fined by the Panama government. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Ricardo Martinelli, the current president of Panama, promised changes in Panama during his political campaign.  The guy has kept his word and is busy making all kinds of “cambios” in the country in a very short period of time.  I haven’t seen so many changes in Panama in my lifetime.  It’s absolutely mind-boggling.  Good Day.

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Hunting For Windows Ads

As a hobby, I like to go out to the city and look for attractive ad displayed on stores’ windows.  It’s amazing what you will find.  Panama is a highly developed commercial hub, and depend on creative marketing to move their huge deposits of merchandise.  The Colon Free Zone is the second largest in the region, moving millions of dollars worth of merchandise from all corners of the world.

If a new product is launched anywhere in the globe, you can be sure, it will be displayed in Panama in a few days.  For example, yesterday I saw the new Apple iPad mini.  I even held it in my hand and played with the screen for while.  The salesperson told me they were selling like hotcakes, albeit the price is pretty steep—$499 plus a seven percent sales tax.  Ouch!

Going back to my subject of today’s blog post, below are two snapshots of attractive ads I found in a recent foray into El Dorado malls about 2 miles from my home.  I thought they were we excellent.  What do you think?

Snapshot of Polo sportswear ad displayed outside a store in Panama City, Panama. I really liked the composition of this ad, including the horse in the middle of the picture. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The movement of the subject captured my attention. This is a very dynamic picture and the black and white colors add to the activity of the subject. Take a look at his floating hair. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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1 Cent Sale

Snapshot of an ad placed on a window of a store at El Dorado Mall. I liked the originality of the design. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The English translation of this sign is, “Everybody happy.  Return of the 1CentSale.  When you buy one item at the regular price you take home a second item with the same or lower price for only 1 cent.”  The two cents resembling the eyes and the creativity of the title of the sign caught my attention.

I love to explore street and stores’ signs when I go out hunting for new pictures for my blog.  People are so creative.  It’s pretty cool.  I love it!  Good Day!

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Sapporo Beer Ad – Legendary Biru

The human capacity to create is unfathomable.  Take a look at this YouTube drum beer ad which is absolutely amazing.  I used to be a heavy beer drinker in my prime years, and this original commercial brings back happy memories of the golden liquid.  Enjoy creativity at its best.  Sayonara.

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Ads in Panama City, Panama

Snapshot of an ad depicting a young kid playing with a rustic plane. The caption on the ad reads: “Europe or South America. Millions of wishes, only one S&L.”" Caja” is the Spanish word for a Savings and Loans institution. La Caja de Ahorros is the largest S&L in Panama. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of an ad showing a fashion shoe with blue toes. Notice the URLs of Facebook, Twitter and the official Web page of the commercial entity at the bottom of the street sign. BBB is a well-known shoe store in Panama City.  (Bueno, Bonito y Barato.)  The social networks have taken Panama City by storm. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

The signs reads:  “You, yourself, with 8 centimeters more of attitude.”  Good Day.

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Witty Street Signs in Panama

Snapshot of a street sign designed by an employment agency called Arka. I’ve seen real people holding up these signs in Europe and the United States. Sometime they work and people actually get employed this way. In times of uncertainly, creativity will get you out of the hole. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Snapshot of a street sign promoting a high quality furniture store in Panama City, Panama. Decolosal is the Ferrari of Panama, as far as fashion office furniture is concerned. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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The Famous “1984″ Apple Advert

Snapshot of my Logitec webcam which I’ve placed on top of my computer screen. I use it, together with Skype, to communicate with friends in the United States. Cameras are often associated with Big Brother. All our movements are observed through public cameras. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

Apple’s 1984 commercial is considered by most pundits, one of the most creative commercial ever broadcasted anywhere ever.  It had a price a price tag of $750,000 which was a lot of money in those days and it’s duration was of only one minute.

The story goes that Steve Jobs wanted to launch the Macintosh with an inspiring commercial that was as revolutionary as the computer itself.  He loved the Orwellian tagline when it was presented to him, and he encouraged the Chiat-Day advertising agency to pursue it.  “I want something that will stop people in their tracks”, he said.  “I want a thunderclap.”

Apple booked two expensive slots for sixty and thirty seconds, costing over a million dollars to show it during Super Bowl XVIII on January 22, 1984, which was just two days before the Macintosh launch.  The commercial would air early in the third quarter, at the first commercial break after the second half kick-off.  Only the sixty seconds ad was finally chosen due to internal resistance to the ad from within Apple’s top brass.

Steve Hayden and Brent Thomas put together a storyboard for a 60 second ad that would look like a scene from a science-fiction movie.  It featured a rebellious young woman outrunning the Orwellian thought police and throwing a sledgehammer into a screen showing a mind-controlling speech by Big Brother.

The heroine, with a drawing of a Macintosh emblazoned on her white tank top, was a renegade out to foil the establishment—obviously IBM.  A female discus thrower was chosen to play the heroine.  Just at the moment when Big Brother announces, “We shall prevail,” the heroine’s hammer smashes the screen and it vaporizes in a flash of light and smoke.

At its end, as the drones watched in horror the vaporizing of Big Brother, an announcer calmly intoned, “On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh.  And you’ll see why 1984 won’t be like ’1984′.”

The ad was so admired that it was often replayed for free.  It also temporarily boosted the company’s sales, employee’s morale, and stock price.  It was an immediate sensation.  More than 96 million people watched an ad that was unlike anything they’d seen before.

That evening, all three networks and fifty local stations aired news stories about the ad, giving it a viral life unprecedented in the pre-YouTube era.  It would eventually be selected by both TV Guide and Advertising Age as the greatest commercial of all times.

For your ready reference, I’ve selected the “1984″ historic commercial extracted from YouTube for your enjoyment.  This is it.

And now you know the rest of the story.  Good Day.

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The Power of Madison Avenue

Publicity campaigns are so powerful and carefully designed, that they will make a trademark become an everyday noun.  The consumer will mention the product’s trademark thinking it’s actually the name of the noun.  The psychological effect inside the brain performed by Madison Avenue’s Gurus is amazing.

Apple’s iPad has dominated the tablet category. Now, when many consumers think of tablets, they only think of the iPad. Below is a list of other brand names that have become so popular that they’ve joined the world of common nouns. Some of the brands became so generic that they lost their trademarks.

1. Aspirin — Bayer AG lost the trademark in 1921

2. Heroin — Bayer AG lost the trademark in 1919

3. Escalator — Otis Elevator Co. lost the trademark in 1950

4. Thermos — Thermos LLC lost the trademark in 1963

5. Yo-yo — Duncan lost the trademark in 1965

6. Zipper— B.F. Goodrich lost the trademark in the 1920s.

7. Band-Aid — Trademarked by Johnson & Johnson

8. Kleenex — Trademarked by Kimberly-Clark

9. Jell-O — Trademarked by Kraft

10. Xerox — Trademarked by Xerox Corp.

Yep, the power of Madison Avenue is amazing.  Think about it when you say, “I’m going to Google it and see what it means.”  This ubiquitous corporation has also become a noun.  Good Day.

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A Choo-Choo Train in a Local Mall

Snapshot of a cute little train used by MetroMall to take kids for a ride around the mall while their parents shop till they drop. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.

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Stress Reduction Campaign

During my last visit to my local drugstore to buy my monthly medicine and keep my pesky rhinitis under control, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a cute goodwill item.  It was a bright red rubber heart to control my stress level.  I think they call it a stress ball.

Farmacias El Rey is promoting a stress reduction program by giving away thousands of these stress items to their customers.  I think it’s an excellent way to create a bond between the company and its clients.  Developing customer loyalty is very important if you want to keep your customers returning to your place and buying your products and/or services.

According to Wikipedia Encyclopedia, a stress ball is “a malleable toy, usually not more than 7 cm in diameter. It is squeezed in the hand and manipulated by the fingers, ostensibly to either help relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand.”

Below is a picture of the stress reduction item I received from Farmacias El Rey at El Dorado Shopping Center.  I think it looks pretty cute.

Snapshot of a stress ball, in this case a heart, used either to help relieve stress and muscle tension or to exercise the muscles of the hand. It was a nice gesture from Farmacias El Rey. I appreciate their kind gesture. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.

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