Almost Free Content in Advertising: How the Met Screwed You

The New York Times reported on the Metropolitan Museum’s new ad campaign which features user generated content of museum goers in areas where photography is permitted.

Here are the details:

  • The image must be uploaded to flickr
  • The image must have a creative commons attribution
  • The winning photographer must obtain a model release
  • The winner receives $250 in cash and a $60 membership

Here is a layout using Laura P. Russell’s image of her parents.

metflickr.jpg

And another by David Choi

metchoi.jpg


I will admit this much: Flickr is a force of social photography that has no equal. Even though sites like Facebook have more total photos, flickr has captured the minds of photo enthusiasts in a way that has been incredibly, and deeply altering to the landscape of photography. Secondly, The Met, like many museums, is looking to make themselves more relevant and attract a younger, hipper crowd that will help fund itself for the next generation.

User engagement, in this case, photos of visitors in the museum taken by other visitors, is a seemingly smart move.

However, a few key observations: The Met is a museum. And although their older collections feature works of antiquity by previous cultures, most of the pieces in their collection are created by artisans through commission (whether it was a king or a rich benefactor). So it’s unfortunate that instead of hiring the many fantastic professional photographers who inhabit their backyard, they have gone to the streets for a $250 photo, and worst yet, they have forced the contributors to give it a creative commons license instead of a copyright. At least it isn’t a blind rights grab.

Laura’s photo is nice, but it is a snapshot of her parents. The background is distracting, the lighting is poor, the white balance is off. A great photo wouldn’t require models, nor lighting rigs. It would only require a photographer who was hired for the day to move about the museum. You don’t have to hire Annie Leibowitz for $1 million. You can hire a Hannah Whitaker, Noah Kalina, or a Yana Paskova.

Times are tight, but a few thousand dollars to generate a superior product while supporting the work of artisans seems like a cause worthy of The Met.

p.s. While their at it, they should rename the campaign “Haven’t We Met” and license the awesome Kenny Rankin tune by the same name.

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This article was written by

Allen Murabayashi is the co-founder of PhotoShelter.

There is 1 comment for this article
  1. Andrew at 9:35 pm

    True, museums definitely should commission properly, and within current cost valuation. It’s a shame that the upstanding BBC is also guilty of similar charges, but they don’t offer any financial rewards.

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