Videoage International November 2020

4 World November 2020 V I D E O A G E sing in 1987. Font led efforts to encourage America’s consumer- product giants to supplement their advertising campaigns for the general market with bro- adcast commercials and print advertisements aimed speci- fically at Hispanic consumers. After leav-ing the agency, he joi- ned Protele, a subsidiary of Me- xico’s Televisa founded in 1971 that was in charge of selling its in-house produced programs in- ternationally. As an advertising executive, Font had been a good friend of the Azcarraga family, which controlled Televisa, and the family rewarded him, first with an executive position at Protele in 1993. Later, when he founded Global Media Distribution in New York City in 1998, the family rewarded him with content rights for Televisa’s products that he sold in selected territories like Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Controversy also courted him. According to a February 24, 2000 article in the Miami Herald (which by the way, got his age wrong), he was linked to accused Cuban spy Mariano Faget, but Font steadfastly denied that he had ever shared secrets with Cuba. “I challenge the Cuban government and any other person in the United States to show Pedro Font has passed information ... to Cuba,” he said to a Univision reporter at that time. Then he added, “That would be humiliating [because] I’ve raised my children to be anti-Communists.” Font, whose father died in Cuba before Fidel Castro’s rise to power, fled to Miami with his mother and three sisters while still a teenager in the early 1960s. He became active in the entertainment business in Peru and Ecuador at the end of the decade. According to other accounts, Font also did a stint in Brazil before opening an ad agency in Hawaii at the suggestion of the iconic U.S. automotive executive Lee Iacocca. As a true personaje, Don Pedro, as he was reverently known, was not hesitant to delight people with stories and to give advice. “Pitch to the top” was one of his favorites. Font & Vaamonde was successful because Don Pedro pitched the bigwigs, and, if they didn’t listen, he literally banged his shoe on the table until they did. U ntil recently, his age was a well-kept secret, but what was well known about him were his peculiarities and his ingenuity. Pedro Font (pictured), whose full name was Pedro Jesus Vidaurreta Font, died in Denver, Colorado on October 17, 2020 due to complications from a combination of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. He was 82 years old. Font was a major force in the industry, who helped turn the Hispanic and multicultural markets into a multi-billion- dollar industry. Font was, for lack of a better term, un personaje (a character), who regularly donned a showy yellow wig and a dyed jet-black beard, and often had an extra-long Cuban cigar between his teeth. He wasn’t just a good film-TV businessman, he was a showman. Many industry insiders remember his extravagant opening parties at both the Monte Carlo TV Market and at MIP-TV in Cannes. With Joseph Vaamonde as a partner, he opened Font & Vaamon- de Advertising in New York City in 1979. It was sold to Grey Adverti- Pedro Font: 1938-2020 (Continued on Page 6)