temp site
This poster is taken from an exhibition of over 200 designers’ work from around the globe. The exhibition is in support of the victims of the Sichuan earthquake that occurred May 12th earlier this year. It really is inspiring to see how visual design transcends language barriers.
Apparently one of the Beijing Olympic torchbearers was Scott Oelkers, managing director of Domino’s Pizza in China. I remember seeing this guy in television commercials when I was still living in Taiwan and people mistook my dad for him all the time. Oelkers’ went from being a Mormon missionary assigned to Taiwan in 1979 to managing over 100 Domino’s Pizza locations there and in China. Missionaries often end up contributing to their “target market” outside of spreading their faith. One major example that comes to mind is Samuel Dyer and his efforts in the creation of a steel typeface for the Chinese language.
What’s interesting is how one of Domino’s Taiwan ad campaigns was such a success that it allowed them to build around 65 stores in just two years. Their agency (I wish I knew which it was) presented a campaign using Chinese puns and felt that it would make more sense if a foreigner was the one to say them. This is how Oelkers ended up not only as a business manager but also on the Taiwanese tubes and as a local celebrity of sorts. Scott says, “I can’t walk down the street in Taiwan without hearing the words “DaMeiLe, DaLeMei” being spoken by someone I pass by.” DaMeiLe is Domino’s Chinese name, and DaLeMei means “have you called yet?.”
There are some examples of the campaign here and more about Scott Oelkers here and here.
On a related note, the first two characters in Pizza Hut’s name, bisheng, is my Chinese name. I’ve recieved some freebies because of it.