NPR’s All Things Considered just aired a cutesy little piece about corporate sponsorship at national parks, waxing whimsical about such possibilities as Clearasil sponsorship of Crater Lake or the Lincoln Mercury Memorial. Amusing, but they obviously haven’t ventured a mile or so from NPR headquarters down to the Smithsonian, where the Natural History Museum has now been renamed with the far less helpful name “The Behring Center,” and boasts innumerable references to The Discovery Channel. In fact, those not in the know might assume that this museum is owned by Discovery Channel these days. What does it say about our government that institutions of learning for the public — museums, public schools, parks — must be turned over to corporate interests in order to secure enough funds to keep the doors open?
Oh, and one branding joke NPR forgot, courtesy of Futurama: how about Duraflame National Forest?
