Scary Lucille Ball Statue A PR Nightmare
A Lesson for Aspiring Artist Entrepreneurs
The recent news story about the statute controversy regarding
the iconic comedian
Lucille Ball is baffling.
And one can only imagine audience reaction at the unveiling ceremony
in 2009. ..Truly a sitcom moment.
After delving into more details, one can’t help but wonder
why the accomplished and skilled artist allowed the work to be
unveiled since it would represent his name and reputation.
And just as puzzling: what photos were used to cast the image?
Lucille Ball on Pinterest.
What is clear is that this is not about an awful sculpture; it’s about failure to repair a botched commission. Facebook-We Love Lucy
That the sculptor had asked for five-figures to redo the statute is now public knowledge…on and off the Web.
A recent letter of apology sent to the town’s irate mayor with an offer
to repair the statute has an appearance of damage control. Since the correspondence is dated three days after the Hollywood Reporter’s story last week…six years after the unveiling of what many call a monstrosity.
Takeaway:
Before launching any service-related startup, be clear about the kind of potential mistakes that could occur and the time, labor and money involved in redoing assignments.Decide beforehand whether to accept or reject a project based on that information.
Some mistakes can be time consuming and costly to remedy.
But refusing to correct mistakes in a timely and appropriate manner in the age of the Web may be even more costly.