comScore
Uncategorized Wednesday, March 23rd 2011 at 10:19 am

Fake Smithsonian Ads Highlight Hardcoreness of Historic Figures; Museum Not Pleased

By ( ) Comments

Jenny Burrows and Matt Kappler teamed up to create “Historically Hardcore,” a lovingly crafted series of ads for the Smithsonian that one-up the exploits of modern-day rockers and rappers with tales of historic figures, well, being hardcore.

The ads are not official Smithsonian copy, however, but were a portfolio project for both artists. At that, over the past few days they have stirred up a ton of interest in history and in the Smithsonian online, particularly among the younger audience they were trying to reach with their light tone and contemporary references.

Mission accomplished, right? The Smithsonian didn’t think so. Burrows writes that shortly after the ads went viral and she began receiving requests from local media outlets, she got in touch with the Smithsonian to make sure they were square.

Well, they were less than pleased about the attention the posters were getting and requested that I take them down immediately. Honestly, i don’t blame them. If someone put something out there with my name on it, I wouldn’t be too happy about it either, no matter how awesome it was.

I immediately complied, getting rid of any trace of the museum’s logo, name, and building on the posters and my portfolio site they were posted to. I’m not really one that goes around trying to piss people off. Especially government-run facilities.

As Burrows points out, the Smithsonian’s reaction is understandable from a branding perspective, but it is really a shame that it pushed away free, effective ads that engaged young people.

The other ads below:

(Behance via O’Reilly Radar | Artist’s sites)

Filed Under | • • • • • • • • •
  • http://twitter.com/harleygirlsd harleygirlsd

    Now had the museum been SMART, they would have capitalized the hell out of this – these are GREAT! I laughed out loud for REAL, heehee!

  • Asreal

    I agree! I wanna see more ^_^

  • Avi Goodman

    I suggest the artists make a few phone calls and find another museum that will gladly let them use their name, in exchange for the free advertising. I’m sure there are DOZENS of institutes out there that would be more than happy for such an arrangement, and it will even benefit the Smithsonian by way of people talking about how much money they lost by not seizing the opportunity…. and at least then people are still talking about the Smithsonian right? If someone doesn’t want you, punish them by getting with their biggest competition.

  • Avi Goodman

    Actually, in continuation to my comment above, if they want someone to find them a museum that will accept their free gifts of talent, I’d be more than happy to find them one for free. I can make the calls and sell the project, no problem at all, and for free.

  • designer chick

    Sell the idea. it’s brilliant. I’m sure there is an organization there that sees the value and will be happy to pay for it. Designer shouldn’t be giving things away for free.

  • Dan

    These are memorable ads, and I think they’d be great for the Smithsonian. Yes, they’ll offend someone. What doesn’t? But putting the likeness of someone living who didn’t agree to having something pejorative said nationally about him is not appropriate. Now if those people had agreed to being in the ad, then that would be really funny!

    The ads remind me of some for the Episcopal Church years ago, maybe in the 1980s. One read something along the lines of: Henry VIII had six wives. Any church founded by him can’t be all bad.

    Too bad the ad creators didn’t look further back in history…

  • Anonymous

    These are awesome. I think the Smithsonian should use these.

  • Bicycle Bill

    Jill Harness
    Hardcore Museum Ads
    by Jill Harness – March 31, 2011 – 2:42 PM

    The ad above was created by Jenny Burrows and Matt Kappler for their art portfolios. Originally, the logo at the bottom belonged to The Smithsonian. But once Jenny and Matt’s work started getting attention online, the Smithsonian folks decided they weren’t crazy about the free publicity and asked the artists to take down the ads immediately. Jenny ended up swapping in the generic “Museums” logo seen above.

    If you like the Roosevelt/50 Cent ad, be sure to take a quick trip over to Geekosystem to check out more of the wonderful posters.
    5
    comments
    Share on Twitter
    Share on Facebook
    « Previous Post –
    Comments (5)

    1.

    Very funny! I think 50 was shot something like 9 times with at least one entering through his face though…so I feel like he is entitled to all the whining he wants. But go Teddy!

    posted by Katie Rose on 3-31-2011 at 3:13 pm
    2.

    Is it just me, or should someone at the Smithsonian get smacked upside the head for this foolish maneuver?

    posted by EMStoveken on 3-31-2011 at 3:17 pm
    3.

    Great idea, Smithsonian, to stop any and all free publicity you may get. Who needs that? (great rolling of eyes)
    I saw these ads a couple of weeks ago, and was actually disappointed that they WEREN’T for the Smithsonian. What a fabulous campaign! I hope Jenny and Matt get a ton of work from THEIR free publicity all over the internet.

    posted by Rachel on 3-31-2011 at 3:24 pm
    4.

    Slight correction — Teddy was shot *before* delivering the speech, not during. It happened in 1912 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the Hotel Gilpatrick — long gone, and now the site of the Hyatt. He was campaigning for President on the “Bull Moose Party” ticket, and was on his way to deliver a speech at at the Milwaukee Auditorium (now the Milwaukee Theater) when John Schrank shot him with a .38-caliber pistol at close range.

    The bullet was partially deflected and otherwise slowed by Roosevelt’s speech and eyeglass case, which were in his breast pocket, although he did sustain a wound. Declining medical attention, he went on to the auditorium, told the assembled crowd that he had just been shot but declared that “it would take more than that to stop a Bull Moose!” Teddy proceeded to deliver a 90-minute speech, and only then did he agree to go to a hospital.

    -”BB”-

  • Bicycle Bill

    I was copy-and-pasting my comment from another site and didn’t realize until after I’d posted that I’d brought the entire article and other comments over as well. Sorry ’bout that!

    -”BB”-

  • Ben

    lol kids are interested in more than sex (i’m sorry, rape. because genghis khan raped and pillaged fucking anything he could get his hands on. remember?), violence, and swearing.

  • Anonymous

    Perhaps you know about Teddy’s experience as a rancher and hunter in the frontier days of the great American West. Once, his boat was stolen, so he and his travelling companions tracked down the dastardly thieves after more than a week of pursuit (if memory serves) during sub-freezing, and sub-zero, weather on a frozen river in Montana. The boat was retrieved, and the rogues turned over to the authorities. None of that (w)ussified “brush clearing” on the ranch with a chainsaw for Teddy ! Bully !

  • http://www.halfbakedpotatoes.com/creamofthecrop Half Baked Potatoes

    No the smart thing to do is cause a fuss. So many more people will see the ads.

  • Mikel King

    Actually the smart thing would have been for the museum to take advantage of it, but have some milfy groups make a stink about it on the side… I mean let’s face if the government is known for playing both side of the coin… ;-S

  • Anonymous

    They really do have a lot of potential. And aren’t museums supposed to try to get younger generations interested in this stuff anyway?

  • MrCromin

    Do you work for the government and made that post as some kind of double bluff

  • Vhjhmk

    Women are sometimes fragile, want a
    real-man to protect you? Join in   

    —uniformedkiss*c’o’m–, here you will meet lots
    of servicemen and find friendship, love, romance, marriage or even more with those
    armed forces, police, navy, security, medical, ambulance, prison, air crew and
    fire fighters! You will not regret for dating with military personnel. Just sign
    up and nothing will lose if you don’t like it. Thanks….

  • http://www.technodo.com/ Andrew

    You got a point there, any press is good press, as they say. Also, if I saw the photos on their own I probably would have thought they were official, trying to get at the young crowd.

  • R.J. Cuninghame

    The Teddy Roosevelt one is historically incorrect. He was shot on his way to the speech, not during it. Still, hardcore.

  • Jon

    phew, good thing they can use government funding/tax money to survive this narrowly dodged spike in business

  • http://twitter.com/Muginn Ken Heitmeyer

    Makes sense. I think “Da Vinci Code” and “Harry Potter” did better after people started putting up a fuss

  • shortkid111

    The problem is remaining respectable. Sure, these ads will entice the younger generation but it isolates the older generation which from my understanding is currently their main audience.

  • Samuel Halfon

    love that, all great men in history were hardly ever considered as great men by their contemporaries… and linking great history characters to our superficial icons make the former even more interesting and respectful… very clever way to attract different types of people to museums! congrats to the authors!

  • Anonymous

    For the people mentioning others being offended: what about these ads is offensive? Serious question. Is there something I am missing? There’s no swearing, vulgarity or bad images. If anything these could be more ‘hardcore’ and still fly under the indecency radar.

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Stone/100000450864345 John Stone

    These are awesome..

  • Anonymous

    People are upset, because of the heroificiation we have done to so many of Histories most interesting people, especially Americans. Most America don’t want to know about history, which is gritty, earthy, and often times doesn’t paint our great men in the best of light 100% of the time. What these offended people want is the American myth where Columbus and the Pilgrims were noble, the natives were stupid savages, George Washing our Jesus, and Betsy Ross is our Blessed Virgin Mary.

  • Anonymous

    It doesn’t isolate them, the older generation has already isolated themselves with the American Mythology they want to believe because nostalgia is fun and grand when you forget all the bad shit that happened when you were young and were openly complaining about to anyone that would listen to you.

  • Anonymous

    Just a side note if you find these interesting read Thaddeus Russell’s A Renegade History of America, James Loewen’s Lies My Teacher Told, and number of books by Howard Zinn.

  • harleygirlsd

    Fifty cent was shot 9 times and lived. Stop being a bitch.

  • BradleyHart

    BradleyHart Stupid and savage? sounds a lot like you don’t it?

  • A Woman, A Historian

    I find it offensive that these ads represent rape as something to be glorified. The word choice on the Genghis Khan poster, “he got with” women completely erases the historical reality that Khan and his armies violently raped and pillaged thousands of women. Not really something worth heroizing in my opinion.