Monday, January 8, 2007

Great concepts: Advertising Icon Museum


I am excited about the opening of a museum in Kansas City devoted Advertising Icons in the Spring of 2008. Not to honor advertising executives like David Ogilvy or Leo Burnett, but rather figures like Mr. Peanut, the Burger King, and Toucan Sam, and if you've been reading my blog for any significant length of time, you know that many of these figures are in a way my nemeses. But even though I am not comfortable with personified food items as advertising spokespeople, I can still appreciate the effort of collecting and categorizing toys and other forms these characters take for future generations to behold.

The whole museum looks rather promising, and just like the sort of place I would like to visit. If it was dedicated merely to kitsch, I could merely appreciate the effort, but it looks like this is going to be a full on celebration of these figures, from the local characters all the way up to the international phenomena, and it looks like great attention is going to be paid to preserving and presenting their context within our society. As a history major and a pop culture enthusiast, I have to appreciate that. The building is also being designed by the esteemed architect Moshe Safdie, which is also a plus.

I have a feeling that when this museum opens, its staff is going to be on a featured on a lot of television news programs through 2008. The expertise they will possess will be very specialized, so they could very well be in demand for many years to come. The museum is a great concept whose time has come, and I for one celebrate its conception and development and I look forward to visiting it at some time in the future.

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