Who are Yue?

6 questions posed to Peter Yue

1) who the fuck do you think you are?

This question has baffled thousands of great minds over eons. People have pondered this age old mystery, but I will answer it concisely.

I'm a local around here and from my understanding that's a rarity. Yep. Oregon's own, home grown. Just like Billy Jack Hayes. And if you don't know about Billy Jack Hayes, you don't know Portland Wrestling. Portland Wrestling = Portland, OR. Let's just say I watched it during my burgeoning
days. A lot.

In my former life, I was at Nike for a short stint and an art director for a snowboard apparel company in town. But the most exciting jobs next to the one I have here in Studio are: working in a fish cannery in Alaska (working the fish line, freezer, and driving a forklift moving big metal trays that
go into ovens); working Saturday Market Site crew pushing garbage up a big, slippery, old ramp into a dumpster and "sanitizing" underneath the Burnside bridge before opening. How do you like that run-on sentence?

I like dim sum and doughnuts.

2) What do you work on here at Wieden + Kennedy?

I currently work on Starbucks Regional. I also work on any other account when people ask. I work on eating about 4-5 meals a day and 2-3 snacks while here. I usually only get 2 meals a day. Kind of a bummer. Missed the goal by a large margin.

3) What would you be doing if you were not here?

Not sure about this one. I think I would probably be at home doing chores, or in the army. Maybe watching Star Trek. Could be an artist, I guess. Hmmm... Store clerk. Maybe a mediocre engineer. Not a doctor, too much schooling.

It's hard to think of one because I've found my nitche at the moment.

4) crumple or fold?

Fold. It's more economical and protective.

5) Holy fuck up! What's your biggest one?

Biggest one, eh? So many to choose from.

Well, when I was younger after watching a bit of Portland Wrestling, I went shopping with my mom and grandma at Albertsons. The one that used to be on 39th and Belmont.

Anyway, I was 6 or 7 at the time and I wanted to push the shopping cart around for my mom. She wasn't sure if I should be doing that but she let me anyway. I remember her telling me in Chinese to be careful and not to run into things. I was so excited. I might have even stifled a squeal of delight.

So, I was going down the meat isle and this blue haired old lady - she must have been like 300 years old or something – was shopping for some pork chops or whatever old people eat. The old lady walked in front of the shopping cart that I was pushing. I have no idea how she got in front of it, but I
was pretty much standing still. She flopped and fell onto the meat counter.

I was horrified when I saw red blood soaking her blue hair. She had fallen down and bonked her head on something.

Long story short, the manager came over and we all went into his office. There were bandages bound and spray antiseptic sprayed. All I remember was backing out the dark office with my mom and grandmother. I'm not sure if it was okay to leave, but we were out of the store and on the run.

Let's just say I wasn't allowed to go to Albertsons until it closed down at that location. And I got a good ol' Chinese whuppin' from my grandmother and mother. Sometimes at night I pray for Bloody Blue Haired Lady.

So many failures..

6) If you could interview one other person in the studio, who would it be
and why?

Paul Levy. Why? The strong, silent types always get my heart a flutter. An enigma wrapped in a riddle.

Comments

[Peter Yue]

I'm still praying for you, Old Blue Haired Lady. Even tonight.

[Aaron Lee]

So wait. You claim that you were standing still – so technically knocking the lady down wasn't your fault. Yet the original question was your biggest failure? I'm confused here. Was this a failure on your part or maybe, just maybe, a misunderstood accident? I think so. Sleep well tonight.

[Peter Yue]

The true failure is that I didn't save her from her fall. Accidents happen, and there is usually a cause. The cause was a small misunderstoood chinese boy. The catalyst was excitable feelings about a shopping cart. You know the result. All, I know is that my mom said it was my fault.