Marketing

Free Willie Fuh All!

Tiny confession 👀 When we first saw the Steamboat Willie story, we were totally stoked about kicking off the New Year with a BUZZworthy opinion piece to set the tone for the year. But we were also on vacay so… we kinda stick. But look how, 2 weeks later, no one else picked it up so here we are! 

Just in case you missed it, on January 1st the copyright expired for one of Walt Disney’s first animation films featuring Mickey Mouse, Steamboat Willie. It was originally due to expire in 1983 but was extended to 1997 and again to 2024, for a total of 95 years. Other iconic characters, including Pluto and Donald Duck, are set to enter the public domain unless Disney goes to US Congress for an extension. 

Apparently, this copyright issue is a pretty big deal in the US and UK with people actively tracking copyright expiration for characters, videos, music and more. Which begs the question: how invested are we in copyright here? We were all up in arms about whether or not Japan owned the rights to our national instrument and then that died down. And we claim to be the meme gurus, but is anyone copyrighting those? Can we? And what’s the situation with Nagib Elias Guy, the Chubby Man and Peppy the Penguin… Is it that we’ll soon be seeing them used freely, much like how people keep TikToking the Island Finance jingle? 

We don’t really have the answers and, at the AI Symposium we attended least year, we learned that there really aren’t any — as yet. So tell us, what piece of Trini creativity would you be most excited to see join the copyright free ranks of Mickey Mouse and Winnie the Pooh? 

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Slam. Bam. Thank You… %&# Scam! 

What comes to mind when you think about fraud or scams in advertising? Maybe a restaurant advertising a huge delicious burger but the reality is a thin shadow of its Instagram self. Maybe someone advertising a PS5 for sale on Facebook that the turns out...

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Happy Hallo…what?!

Depending on how long you’ve been in and around advertising, you might realise that a particulartrend has emerged that’s even sillier than all the election season campaign gimmicks… somethingthat we’re calling bandwagon season! Towards the end of this month, you’ll start seeing brands advertising spooky savings...

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Our Republican Status: Forty-seven years have gone. How yuh feel?

Hard to believe but it’s been a dizzying forty-seven years of change since Trinidad and Tobago became a Republic. It’s safe to say that we as a country have come a long way since then. But we wouldn’t be out of line to say we’ve still got a long way to go as forty-seven years is still young. A Republic is a lot more than replacing a monarch as our official Head Of State with that of a President. As Sir Ellis Clarke, our first President stated in an interview: “It’s a matter of substance, it’s also a matter that is symbolical of shall I call it the adulthood of the nation. We have grown up.”

The local marketing communication landscape has had a lot of growing up to do as well with so many changes through the years. And The BUZZ knows it well.
As an agency repeatedly taking the leap into the unknown means experiencing the whole gamut of emotions ranging from exciting to terrifying. But it also made us evolve beyond what we initially knew and to develop skills that would provide growth, fulfillment and pride. It’s a continuous opportunity to view the world from a bold fresh perspective.

As a nation and as an agency we cannot simply retrace the footsteps of the past. We must take revolutionary steps forward. While some solutions can be found others need to be crafted.

How do we feel? Optimistic! We’ve got what it takes to be bold and imaginative. We can adapt and succeed in this ever-changing world. It’s a feeling we hope you share with us as well – as there is no limit to what we can achieve together.

Happy Republic Day!

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