Spanish chef Ferran Adrià, the foodie favorite who raised the profile of molecular gastronomy at his El Bulli restaurant in Catalonia, stopped by Fortune Wednesday afternoon to discuss his new role as brand ambassador for telecommunications giant Telefónica SA. (TEF)
At first blush the Adrià-Telefónica alliance may seem incongruous--like a delicate fish paired with a hearty Zinfandel--but Adrià insisted that partnership makes sense: "When you wake up in the morning, you check the time on your mobile phone, you have breakfast, then you check the Internet to see if the world is still there," he said through an interpreter. "The first 40 minutes of the day are taken up by food and telecommunications."
As part of the multiyear relationship Telefónica will provide technology and R&D support to Adrià as he transforms El Bulli, which is closing in July, into a new space called elBulliFoundation. As described by Adrià and Telefónica the foundation is part archive, part culinary academy--and all its projects will be made available for viewing via the Internet. More
Pepsi cut out the market research middleman and let users make and vote on ads. Result? Most memorable Super Bowl ad of 2011.
Apparently, a video of a pug knocking down a glass door on top of some guy is a good way to sell junk food. But Pepsi didn't spend millions doing market research to come up with the concept, called "Pug Attack." Instead, the company leveraged its most valuable marketing MORE
Shelley DuBois, writer-reporter - Feb 10, 2011 11:51 AM ET