Pirates, Ahoy! Chicago Why didn't Philly do the same thing when the exhibit Real Pirates' got its debut here before moving to Chicago? 'Real Pirates' is a bit of fun showmanship about the pirate life that's now at The Field Museum. (They don't call it the Field Museum of Natural History anymore). Before that, the exhibit, was at the Franklin Institute of Science. (They tried calling it just 'The Franklin' until recently. They canned that, going back to the museum's roots). Roots for not, the Franklin Institute should have, ahem, 'pirated' a few ideas from The Field in how to market the exhibit. Sure, 'Real Pirates' was a success in Philadelphia. But I reckon it could have been an even greater success if it followed the marketing plan that has kicked off the show here. Pirates, anyone? Everywhere you look in the Loop, Chicago's Center City, are plastic statutes of pirates and their loot. These are strategically placed in and around State Street and Michigan Avenue, not far from the museum. Street light banners in the district declare that the pirates are in town. In fact, even at my hotel, the promotion extended to the doormen; they were wearing bandanna schmatzas -- a la Capt Hook and the boys. In Philadelphia, the Institute chiefly relied on print advertising. Boring! --RDC |