Dear PoPville – Questionable Marketing for Crime & Punishment Museum

“Dear PoPville,

The Crime & Punishment Museum has these young people out sometimes around the Gallery Place metro handing out coupons for tickets to the museum. They’re always young people dressed up in these orange jumpsuits. On the day I took these pictures there was one white female and one black female in the group handing out the coupons, but everyone else, and everyone else that I’ve ever seen doing it, is an African American male. The outfits have a patch that says Crime & Punishment Museum but they’re very realistic if you’re not paying close attention. It just seems like a poor choice. Anyway, I’d definitely be interested to see what others thought.”

In late June WAMU’s DCentric reported:

Employees have worn the outfits for three years. Although most of those handing out coupons in Chinatown were black men, all employees are required to wear prison jumpsuits when they engage in promotional activities, community activities or sales calls, wrote Janine Vaccarello, the museum’s chief operating officer, in an email to DCentric.

Personally I’m not a huge fan of this marketing campaign. I think it’d be better if they are going to wear costumes then they should wear period costumes like bootleggers from the 1920s or Al Capone style (like advertised on the side of their building). Something much more obvious. What do you guys think – smart marketing or stupid stunt?