[Near North Resident]

Originally Posted by OrdoSeclorum

A lot of marketing is just establishing a place for the product in a person's mind. You don't consider places you've never heard of. Obviously.

But I'm been really surprised how iconic and recognizable the bean has become. I literally can't begin to count how many rando-from-Ohio's profile pics I've seen that are in front of the bean. It screams at you to take a picture in front of it, and it's reflecting an especially nice and Chicago-y part of Chicago. It's one of the most successful public art projects of all time, in a discussion a level or so below Mt Rushmore, The Statue of Liberty, The Eiffel Tower and Christ the Redeemer. Chicago should and is making hay with that image. It's marketing gold, something that's instantly identifiable and easy to associate.

I'm sure before it was built, people were whining about how dumb it was too