Natty Light created the world’s most expensive work of art in Grand Central Station ‘

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In the Grand Central Terminal, the Natural Light beer brand has just unveiled “the world’s most expensive work of art”; a chaotic canopy made from the diplomas of 2,600 university graduates.

Adding the cost of each diploma – an average of $ 180,000 – the total value of Da Vinci of Debt is $ 470 million.

That is 20 million dollars more than the most expensive work of art ever auctioned: Leonardo Da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi”.

Natural Light’s new campaign (or Natty Light as it is called by followers of the brand) occupies 6,000 feet of Vanderbilt Hall in Grand Central Terminal. The 2,600 diplomas hang in the air, “as if a storm had just scattered them,” according to the brand. “The design is meant to both illustrate the magnitude of the crippling debt crisis and allude to the chaotic impact college debt has on those burdened by it.”

It’s part of an ongoing effort by the brand to shed some light on the country’s crippling student debt problem – U.S. college debt hit a record high in 2021, accounting for $ 1.7 trillion in student loan debt.

In 2018, Natty Light launched a 10-year $ 10 million plan to help students and graduates with college debt. As part of the brand’s 2020 installment of the brand’s College Debt Relief Program, Natty Light paid graduates $ 100 apiece to rent their diplomas.

“After the installation is complete, every diploma is returned in the same condition in which it was received,” describes Daniel Blake, Vice President Value Brands at Anheuser-Busch.

The exhibition can be seen from tomorrow. For those who can’t travel, Natty Light teamed up with Snap to bring the piece to life on Snapchat via augmented reality.

“As we entered the fourth year of our 10-year $ 10 million engagement, we wanted to have more discussions about the outrageous cost of higher education and the ongoing problem of college debt,” says Blake. “When we looked at other media with ridiculous price tags, the world of fine arts jumped out. We wanted to use the concept of sky-high art industry ratings to illustrate how astronomical the college’s cost has become. “

“Da Vinci of Debt” contrasts the high price of a degree with works like Maurizio Cattelan‘s (notorious) taped banana (sold for $ 120,000) and Tracey Emin’s canonical work “My Bed” (sold for £ 2,546,500 in 2014), in which the artist exhibited and later sold her real bed, the one after one depressive episode was disheveled.

“Natural Light chose art as a medium to augment the College Debt Relief Program in 2021 because the cost of the art world is such a fitting analogy to the outrageous cost of attending a typical four-year college,” says Blake.

The campaign aims to hit a particular nerve in Natty Lights drinking demographics: college kids and budget-conscious graduates. Student Loans hit a pressure point. There are currently over 45 million borrowers who collectively owe over $ 1.7 trillion in student loans.

The last year of campaigns for the Anheuser-Busch brand has targeted this imbiber, from free flights to nowhere to high-profile virtual beginnings. “One of the best examples of this was the Dorm From Home campaign, in which we put a fully functional, mobile dormitory in the driveway of one of our deserving fans,” describes Blake. Earlier this year Natty Light donated $ 1 million to pay off student loan debt – a total of 40 people received $ 25,000 each.

“Without the ability to physically gather in large groups,” continues Blake, “our fans felt like they were being robbed of some of their best opportunities to make great memories. We had to find ways to reach them away from campus, bars and concerts and keep the college lifestyle alive even when they couldn’t physically be there. “

“It’s about putting people first. By understanding what is important in their life, we can create fun, engaging, and useful programs. One of the top priorities for our fans is creating epic memories, so many of our campaigns are designed to help them do this. In addition, we also focus on making the transition from graduation to adulthood easier. So we try to identify problems like college debt and offer solutions that will help our fans deal with them. “

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