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<\/a>Spitalfields \u2013 Image courtesy Tate and Jack Arts (part of BUILDHOLLYWOOD)<\/p>\nIt\u2019s not that advertising campaigns are never announced, but when they are, it\u2019s usually in advertising trade magazines, and generally by the agency that did the work. The client doesn\u2019t normally issue a press release that essentially says, \u201cWe are putting up some posters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet that is exactly what the Tate has done, issuing a general announcement that it will run an advertising campaign for its upcoming Tracey Emin exhibition.<\/p>\n
That would be strange enough on its own, but the Tate has chosen to describe this as a \u201cfree, pop-up campaign\u201d, a phrase that implies there is a paid, ticketed version of advertising somewhere that we\u2019ve all been foolishly missing.<\/p>\n
The adverts themselves are entirely standard for an art exhibition: a work by the artist, the exhibition title, and the name of the gallery. In this case, Tracey Emin at Tate, illustrated with one of her recent neon pieces. Perfectly fine. Entirely normal. Exactly what you\u2019d expect an advert to look like.<\/p>\n
What the Tate is trying to sell here is the idea that this isn\u2019t really advertising at all, but a celebration \u2014 a generous act of placing art into public space. This is being framed as something closer to a cultural gift than a marketing exercise. They even roped in the Deputy Mayor for Culture to say something nice about it.<\/p>\n
But honestly, it\u2019s an advert.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s not a criticism of advertising exhibitions with images of the art. One of the pleasures of living in a city dense with galleries is that, because they want to sell tickets, they plaster the place with art. Walk down a street or sit on public transport and you\u2019ll regularly find yourself face-to-face with a famous painting, a photo of a sculpture, or something genuinely interesting. Yes, it\u2019s promoting an exhibition, but it also brightens the urban landscape and is vastly preferable to yet another poster for margarine or car insurance.<\/p>\n