One of It’s obvious that the Smithsonian Institution doesn’t keep up with Reddit. Otherwise, they probably would have realized that a set of Smithsonian advertisements — created by two students in 2009 at Atlanta’s Creative Circus and bearing the Institutions’ name along with some clever copy — were burning up the Internet before one of the designers tipped them off.
The trio of ads began to light up the internet last night, reaching the number one and three most popular slots on Reddit last night. (We’re partial to the 50 Cent/Teddy Roosevelt one for obvious reasons — but the Ozzy Osbourne/Andrew Jackson and Bret Michaels/Genghis Khan ones are just as good.) But this afternoon, after media attention ratcheted up, Burrows figured it might be a good idea to get in touch with the Smithsonian to let them know that they had used the Institution’s name. “I decided to contact the Smithsonian myself, just to play it safe,” Burrows told DCist this afternoon. “I wasn’t sure if they had noticed the Internet activity,” she added, even though a Smithsonian-related Twitter account had replied to a user who asked if the ads were official. (UPDATE: Linda St. Thomas, Smithsonian Institution Chief Spokesperson, tells DCist that the ads were “a trademark violation,” and that the Smithsonian was aware of the ads before Burrows got in contact with the Institution. “I appreciate what she’s done, but we could not have our trademark violated,” St. Thomas added.)
Around midday, the site on which the images were being hosted went bare, complete with a note, stating “This project has been removed by the request of the Smithsonian.” Burrows then explained the removal on her online portfolio:
So, in the time since these were first blogged by someone last week, I have been told by the museum they were intended for that I would have to remove the originals with that museum’s logo. Sadly, I think this makes these posters a bit less bad-ass, but what else can I do? I don’t want to delete them from my book entirely because they are a great campaign.
Burrows told DCist that she holds no grudge toward the Smithsonian for asking her and Kappler to remove the Smithsonian name. “I was fully ready to comply. I understand, it’s a government property,” Burrows said. The pair are simply moving on: Burrows and Kappler are looking into having prints made — as the attention has led history teachers who want to hang the posters in their classrooms to contact them.
But wouldn’t the posters have made a pretty great ad campaign for the Smithsonian?
“As soon as I told [the Smithsonian] that they were getting a lot of attention, they said that was ‘great for us’ … We’re thrilled about the attention, and it seems like if this would have been a real campaign, it would have been real successful,” admitted Burrows.
