Again, I don’t want to be a hater, but… this.

You will not hear any complaints out of me about the fact that clearly a particular demographic is being targeted with this campaign, and it’s clearly not a demographic that traditionally lacks access to museums or art education. I am all for letting the Frick spend its donor’s money however it wants.

However, here I have Claude estimate the cost of producing and promoting the video, which seems awfully conservative. The math-savvy will be quick to do the division by the $30 admission price (or perhaps divide by the $5 guide books!) and draw their own conclusions from there.

There is a bigger conversation to be had about the role museums ought to be playing in American society, but for now it is interesting to observe the markets at work.