Marketers Promoted Jesus Over Rembrandt in Detroit Blockbuster

HUFFINGTON POST
By Ann Marie Erickson

MICHIGAN - Which name headlines the marquee? Rembrandt and Jesus. Jesus or Rembrandt? Marketers identify the value proposition. What about the product will move the largest number of people off the couch and into the museum as quickly as possible? Is it the world-renowned painter, who continues to bring us extraordinary visions hundreds of years after his death? Or does Jesus automatically trump everyone on the playing field because, after all, he is Jesus? Rembrandt and the Face of Jesus, the current exhibition at the DIA, is an extraordinary double bill, and in many ways it perfectly illustrates some of the programming challenges facing contemporary cultural institutions. Star-quality artists are the engines of blockbuster exhibitions, and blockbuster exhibitions bring thousands of people into the museum. But Jesus has been powerful motivation for centuries. In the initial meeting with our ad firm -- Goodby, Silverstein and Partners -- there was no disagreement that Jesus would carry the campaign. [link]