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RUB IT IN (SMEER ZE IN)......The director of Oscare is one of my biggest fans. And, his ideas did not end with the mural at the burn center. He contacted me to see if I was interested in a contest to design a train that travels up and down the Belgian coast. Of course, I was. To enter the contest, the design needed to be submitted by a design agency. However, that was no problem. Koen already had already arranged that.

My design had my kid friendly cartoons teaching summer sun safety tips. Unlike any other entries in the past, this one was also educational. I didn't expect it to win, but I didn't see how it couldn't be in the top ten.

It wasn't in the top ten.

The people running the contest should have honestly read their rules. They could have rewritten them to say, "If you are a rich corporate sponsor, and you want to throw lots of money in our direction, we will recognize your designs." I don't remember all the winners but they included Toy Story 3 and the latest Harry Potter movie. And, the winning design selected to cover the train was Wonder Bra. Need I say anything else to prove my point?

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Koen was not about to let corporate sponsorship foil the message he wanted to communicate. So, along with Pinocchio and the Flemish Red Cross, Oscare printed posters WITH MY ART and plastered them across the Belgian coast.

Ten thousand posters were printed for distribution on the coast and across Belgium. In addition to that, the art was also made into coloring sheets for kids. There was also press coverage. I suggested that Koen open his speach with thanks to the sponsors of that original contest and Wonder Bra. Without them the posters would never have happened.

If you want a full size poster (size A3) go to the Oscare website and click on the yellow words "Smeer ze in" for the PDF.

MARTIN

Copyright 2010 by Phillip Martin All rights reserved.