How Much for a Head?

The Easter Island of Williamsburg,
aka President's Park at 55 mph

On several occasions during my marketing career, frequently while involved in marketing museums and tourism, I have found myself in the same room with someone marketing President's Park. When this happens, I can't concentrate. All I can do is gaze in wonder at that individual and wonder how she can do her (always a woman) job with a straight face or without going crazy. Does she really believe in the mission of the place . . . and how much is she paid? Am I the only one in the room who thinks President's Park is a joke? Why am I so cynical? How far is President's Park from Busch Gardens, even Colonial Williamsburg? Yes, I know they are 2 or 3 miles away, but I mean marketing-wise and philosophically. Edu-tainment? Am I marketing something more noble? How far am I from her? Is marketing ever noble? Self-doubt. Get me outta of here.

Well, we won't have President's Park to kick around for much longer. But we can still have fun with it for awhile, as they did with the headline in the Virginia Gazette: President's Park Goes Bust. Bawh ha ha ha. They tried to sell it once before in 2008, but I guess they're serious this time. From the Gazette: "That ends a six-year saga of the red-headed stepchild of tourism. All 43 busts of the presidents are for sale." Forty-three? What about Obama's head? “We weren’t able to raise the money for the Obama statue, which would have been a huge boon to our business,” said owner Haley Newman, according to the Gazette. Would have been huge. Bawh ha ha ha, again.

I was curious about where you go to buy a head and how much the head of a president is going for these days. I've Googled this way and that, but I haven't come up with anything. Guess I couldn't afford one anyway, even if I wanted one. Where would I put the large cement head? Could I convert it to use as a fountain with a waterfall to the goldfish pond perhaps? I'd want the most nondescript president. Who'd want Teddy Roosevelt grinning into her patio door. Do you think they can really sell them? Is the state of the economy helping people get real about their purchases yet? So many questions, but so many more things I should be doing with my time.

By the way, did you know there's a President's Park Appreciation Society on Facebook? Twenty-nine friends. They're having trouble getting people to care too, even in a funny way, about a bunch of 18 foot high presidential heads set in a wooded nook just off of Interstate 64 in Williamsburg.