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brazil is the Country

of the futureAnd it always will be. That’s the knock on the largest nation in South America, which has been repeated for at least 60 years. Brazil is having a—or is it another—coming out party on the world stage this week; so, it was no surprise to find the Lions devoting a day to all things Brazilian (no, not that—Sarah Jessica Parker was Tuesday) on the main stage. Marcello Marcelloães unpacked the cultural rise of Class C, Brazil’s emerging middle class, to a sparse audience predominately composed of fellow Brazilians. Strong drink was served: Brazil has a long tradition of, ahem, anthropophagy, and it continues to this day. Fortunately, physical cannibalism has given way to the cultural variety. Brazil’s graceful appropriation of foreign cultures is reminiscent of the US in the early part of the 20th century, as is its burgeoning middle class (joined to a large population in poverty just starting to feel economically mobile), recognition of its role in the world, and increasing economic and political stability. Brazil’s future may have finally arrived.

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share and

share alikeWhat makes you share something on line? Marketers need a clear answer to that if we’re ever to avoid another Go Daddy commercial. Ogilvy (sorry ‘bout that, but this is relevant) joined up with SurveyMonkey to survey social sharing in 16 countries around the world. (No monkeys were harmed.) There are a few global patterns: people like to share funny and informational content, and they like to share it to support a cause or to stay in touch with fans or followers. They also like to share Jean Claude van Damme. Although there are global trends, each country has its own social sharing profile, thus reinforcing the strength of a “glocal” strategy for brands…once we get our content shit together, that is. What we see at Cannes is hardly representative of adland at large. 77% of the survey respondents said ad quality was average or poor. Yikes.

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nimrod broughtthe weird Giselle Bundchen didn’t show. This pissed people off much less than Aaron Sorkin’s no-show, which tells you a lot about how much ad folks yearn for good stories, even if that theme has been remixed more often than the Amen breAk. Rob Lowe came to replace her. (This week has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that culture opens for retro mining 30 years on.) And he told us that “making choices that are surprising and different is critical to keeping your brand alive.” Good advice for a heartthrob and probably a creative, too. For a brand, not so much. He also recommended that creative stick to their guns, but Captain Obvious’s cliché parade was interrupted when Nimrod (his real name) rushed the stage to pitch an idea. Thank you, Nimrod. You are our hero.

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neil brought

the brilliantNeil deGrasse Tyson—rockstar astrophysicist, champion for science education and investment, and sciencelebrity—showed a packed Grand Audi why he’s a geek-crush around the world. He implored us to return to a time when science was a central and celebrated part of world culture. America in particular has lost its drive for scientific exploration. The nation is moving from inventing the 21st century to a hotbed of scientific ignorance, and Tyson wants to stop that trend in its tracks. He reminded us that in the Arab world, “mathematics, agriculture, engineering, medicine, navigation—all of that happened while Europe was disemboweling heretics at the same time. So what happened? Well, it wasn’t forever.” He wants to make sure that never happens again anywhere else, either.

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“welcome to the frontier.beCause when you suCCeed, you suCCeed in ways people ask themselves,

‘how come i didn’t think of that?’”Neil deGrasse Tyson