Cool Marketing Thoughts

Rubicon, a Jordanian media company which produces state-of-the-art CGI animation series, came up with a cartoon to promote tolerance between ‘the east’ and ‘the west’. In this 3D work of art, which could mirror itself against films as ‘Finding Nemo’ and other splendid 3D rendered movies, Benjamin (Ben) Martin is an eleven-year-old all-American boy who meets Izzy, an 11-year-old Arab boy from Jordan. In looks and attitude “Izzy” Issam Aziz is diametrically opposed to Ben. When the boys first meet at their grandfathers’ archeological site, the summer vacation looks like it’s going to be tough – right away the kids just don’t like each other. That leads to a few confronting situations like there are plenty ‘in real life’.

But when wandering through Petra one day, Ben and Izzy stumble upon a tomb, releasing the spirited genie Yasmine (whos voice is done by Lucy Liu). Through Yasmine’s powers and her determination to save the world’s precious heritage; the three are instantly wisked away from the present day dig site on a miraculous journey back in time to Petra in the year of the very first visit made by Mark Twain in 1867.

There’s a gala today, May 8th, where the cartoon will basically be pitched to networks in the U.S. and abroad. 500 guests will get to see a 4 minute clip from the pilot episode where Ben and Izzy travel back in time to meet Mark Twain who travelled to Petra in Jordan when he was a young writer. Queen Rania of Jordan will be the hostess of the black-tie dinner at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

From ABC News:

A Jordanian media firm hopes its new TV cartoon series can achieve what politicians have failed to do so far: bridge the cultural divide between East and West. [...]

Even more important is that the cartoon, called “Ben and Izzy” and aimed at 8 to 11 year olds, has royal backing from Jordan’s media savvy rulers, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania, who have made it their goal to promote tolerance. [...]

“Ben and Izzy has all the right ingredients,” Rania told The Associated Press. “It uses the fun medium of a children’s cartoon, promotes important intercultural understanding and educates our children as well.”

“It’s all about partnership. This isn’t about East telling West, or West telling East, but rather East and West putting their heads together and figuring out what’s best for us both,” she added.

See a snippet of the cartoon
Visit the Ben & Izzy website to meet the characters

Read:
‘The New York Times’
‘ABC News’