Swiffer meets Chihuly at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
Attention Museum Development Officers:
In these economically troubled times, when coming up with new naming opportunities for elevators and restrooms just isn’t enough, here’s an income-generator that you may never have considered (with good reason)—the official sponsored product!
The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis has just taken a first intrepid step in this dicey direction by naming Swiffer as “official cleaner of the world’s largest children’s museum.”
According to the press release:
Swiffer products will be used throughout the 479,000 square-foot museum
to trap and lock dust and dirt in every exhibit it houses, including
its most complex, “Fireworks of Glass.” The sculpture was created by world-renowned artist Dale Chihuly.“Dale Chihuly’s artwork is one of the centerpieces of our Museum, and
the preferred dusting solution to help keep it clean and dust-free is
Swiffer,” said Jeff Patchen, president and CEO of The Children’s Museum
of Indianapolis. “After seeing how well it works on such a delicate
piece of art as Chihuly’s piece, we wanted to deepen our partnership
with Swiffer to help keep our exhibits clean and dust-free for our
young visitors to enjoy.”
But wait! There’s more. Happi magazine, which covers a variety of household products, reports:
As part of the accord, Swiffer will have general signage near the
sculpture, and P&G is planning special in-museum events for 2010,
according to a company spokesperson.
The possibilities here are endless—official wall paint, official stain remover, official floor polish…maybe even an official luxury car for the curatorial team!
And in another type of corporate tie-in, the same Children’s Museum has just opened what it describes as “The Only Licensed
Barbie™ Museum Exhibit in the U.S.” (Maybe there’s a good reason for that too.)
According to the Dec. 19 press release:
Today, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis opens its pink vault to unveil Barbie™: The Fashion Experience, a one-of-a-kind 6,500 square foot exhibit about Barbie® fashion and design, brought to you by two industry leaders, Mattel, Inc. and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis….
As a finale to Barbie’s 50th anniversary celebration, we are thrilled
to bring the brand [emphasis added] to The Children’s Museum,” Stephanie Cota,
Senior Vice President Marketing, said.
Corporate support for exhibitions has always had a self-interested aspect to it, ever since I began covering museums. (We won’t say how long that is.) But when nonprofit museums start actively hawking sponsor-manufactured consumer products in their galleries, a barbed-wire line has been crossed.
You can check into Barbie’s® “pink vault” any time you like. But you can never leave…at least not with professional identity™ intact.