I always loved marketing. It is the only job I have done my whole life. I got hooked to marketing when I was 7. One day, coming out of school, somebody approached me and gave me a piece of paper (now I know it is called a flyer) that stated: “come with your parents to the aquarium this weekend and we will give you a fish for free”. I loved it and my parents couldn’t endure my insistence to take me there, being unknowingly victims of the marketing hook.

Time went by and in 1997 I found myself proudly leading my own integrated marketing agency out of Miami. Our first European office opened in 1999 in Barcelona. Few good clients, in love with what I was doing, and growing my business. Life was perfect. As part of a campaign we were doing for our most important client (one of the largest producers of wine and cava in the world), we needed to buy and use, during the whole summer of 2003, a hovercraft, which is a vehicle that travels over any surface on a cushion of air provided by a downward blast. I found a manufacturer in Singapore that had a flying school in Indonesia that would train me as a hovercraft pilot. Being a seasoned glider, airplane, and paragliding pilot, the idea of becoming a hovercraft pilot was irresistible to me. So, there I was, shipping my new 20’ hovercraft from Singapore and taking a 40 minutes ferry to the tropical island of Batam in Indonesia where my trainer was waiting for me. Ferry stations in Singapore seem a lot like New York ferry stations. Big boats, lots of people, frenzy walking, and lots of bags and police, lots of police.  While waiting for my ferry to depart, I could notice several signs that read “Death penalty for drug traffickers”. Wow! These guys are really serious about it, I thought. Arriving in Indonesia, the country of the 18,307 islands - yes…somebody counted them - I could notice a much poorer society but still full of that smooth style and peace that characterizes Asian people. My training went fantastic, sailing and flying at 5 inches above the ground, around beautiful islands, surrounded by friendly people, couldn’t get any better. But it could get worse. The first sign that blasted me out of paradise was the warning of not to go out of the hotel by myself as there was a new evil trend of express kidnapping. Coming from South America, I was not scared, but always prudent. As I finally finished my course, the last day, prior to taking my ferry back to Singapore, I was invited to the offices of the manufacturing company in Batam to say goodbye to the staff. I did it gladly and on my way out, I was asked to take with me a box full of giveaways to hand out to the driver that was picking me up in Singapore. It was a cardboard box full of nautical rulers. For those that are not familiar with it, a nautical ruler is like a school ruler with a central tube that has a scale to measure distances in different units. I accepted. After a short ride, the company driver dropped me at Batam’s ferry station, and he left immediately. Suddenly, I found myself with my suitcase and a box waiting for my ferry when a shivering feeling started to go down from my neck to my toes. I remembered that signed in Singapore and now I saw the same one here in Indonesia: “Death penalty for drug traffickers”. I assume, by now, you know what I am really concerned about. I run to the bathroom, frenetically open the box, took one ruler after another and started cracking them, trying to confirm my suspicion that I had been used as a drug smuggler. I was really scared. None of the rulers had anything inside. I called the factory and told them to call the driver to pick them back up before my departure. The answer was that the driver that left me only 10 minutes ago was already at an hour distance from my location. Not a good sign. So, I had the stupid idea of going to the police station – a desk with 2 people – and tell them that somebody from the company would be picking up this box shortly but I needed to leave it there not to lose my ferry. The language barrier wanted that they did not understand anything I said and got a bit agitated, most likely because of my agitation. As we started back and forth with explanations, I opened the box to show them the contents and in order to demonstrate the purpose of it, I started handing them out to the by-passers. Within seconds, dozens of people surrounded the desk picking up a weird ruler they didn’t know how it worked. Police didn’t seem concerned about it and I took advantage of the confusion to board my ferry. While quietly seating next to the window, pretending I was invisible, I could see 2 uniformed policemen running towards the ferry. My heart stopped. I could see myself pictured in one of those documentaries of foreigners in faraway jails, or on death row. It all seemed like a movie, a very slow-motion movie. I started to read an Indonesian newspaper just to cover my face waiting for the worst to happen. What would I say to my fiancé, to my parents, to my friends and clients? Would anybody believe me? After a short never-ending moment, I could see both policemen running out of my ferry with a couple of sandwiches in their hands. My God! I couldn’t believe how close - or far, I’ll never know - I was from a catastrophic end. Arriving at Singapore I was still concerned till the minute I walked out of the ferry station. But my heart really went back to its normal pounding when I walked out of the airport in Barcelona, my beautiful Barcelona. What have I learned from such a movie-like experience? First, you know it, never accept anything from anybody when traveling unless you are 100% sure of what it really is. And second, that marketing can get you killed if you love it enough to find normal to move giveaways on behalf of others.