Ludlow+Grand

In all seriousness, the deadpan creative vision of Scott Dadich for WIRED moves digital.

I Love Theme Magazine. Founders John Lee and Jiae Kim are rockstars who’ve created a title poised to define the 21st century. Theme Magazine is the modern lens into Asian avant-garde… Choosing not to believe that the influence and culture of Asians is created exclusively by and for the people of Asian descent. Theme is an editorial that inculcates a global conversation for all people to contribute and celebrate.

Each issue centers around universal “themes” of our lives, and reveals how those themes are interpreted in the arts, sports, fashion, literature and all aspects of popular culture. In the last 11 issues, Theme explored Vanguards, I Live Here, Skin, Siblings, The History Of, The Word, Performance, Transplants, Nerds, Journals and Do Good.

Not to overlook, John and Jiae have sick art direction on killer paper stock. In their first year of print, Theme won Design Awards from the Society of Publication Designers and Print Magazine.

Run out to your neighborhood newsstand or subscribe to my good friends, Theme Magazine.

In a society that’s more diverse, more cultured and more dynamic than ever before, it’s fundamentally important to be inclusive of all perspectives. But I wonder who in the advertising industry helps or hurts the cause.

Ask any 1st or 2nd generation immigrant in the States how they connect with their ethnic culture – Mexicans, Koreans, Romanians will say that they watch telenovelas from the “home” country. Ancestral countries still strongly define and influence perceptions. And I bet the most popular shows on Telemundo or AZN are not original programming… they’re imported from Mexico or Brazil, Korea or China.

My question then, Are American-based multicultural agencies the best qualified to produce “in-language” advertising for each respective ethnic group – if ethnicity is the most important criterion?

I think not.

1. Global agency networks with best-in-class multicultural offices/talent abroad are better suited and more authentic.

2. Import international campaigns for non-English speaking American consumers a la “Betty la fea.”

3. General agencies have a greater responsibility and role to create inclusive, respectful messages to reach acculturated minorities who speak English and consume English-language media. Simply, ethnic stereotypes perpetuated is not creative for a creative business.

P.S. Maybe GM should harness the full power of its general market agencies with global networks and drop its multicultural [in-language] agencies as was mistakenly reported before. multicultclassics.blogspot.com

To the start of a healthy conversation.

UPDATE: A complementary p.o.v. on how Theme Magazine is pushing culture forward, ludlowandgrand.com/2007/12/14/beyond-race-theme-magazine