Unleashing the Ideavirus

Unleashing the Ideavirus
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 www.ideavirus.com
Why Are These Cows Laughing?
If you were in Chicago last summer or lucky enough to walk through Manhattan this June,
you may have noticed a few cows in the street. Actually, hundreds of cows. Big fiberglass
cows—practically life-sized—located on heavily trafficked corners.
The cows cost under $2,000 to make, yet when they’re sold in a charity auction at the end of
the cow invasion, they’ll go for $10,000, $30,000… up to $50,000 a piece.
What happened? How did a $2,000 cow turn into a $50,000 cow?
Well, it helps that the cows are painted by local artists. Some are poignant, some are
whimsical, but they’re all extremely interesting.
However, that doesn’t explain the whole thing. After all, it’s a used cow, having sat out in the
rain and sleet and soot for months. Add to that the fact that the cows are well-designed, but
the artists behind them are by no means famous. In fact, it’s fair to say that in most cases, the
price of the cow will be among the single highest price these artists have ever received at
auction.
A $2,000 cow turns into a $50,000 cow because of amplification. The same cow sitting in a
SOHO gallery wouldn’t be famous. The same cow straight from the artist would just be art,
not a souvenir of a special moment in the history of a city.
Literally hundreds of articles have been written about the cows. But more important, tens of
thousands of conversations have occurred. It’s impossible to walk down the street with a
friend and pass a cow without mentioning it. After all, it’s a 
cow
, just standing there in the
street.
Like all good art, these cows create conversations. But unlike art in an art gallery, these cows
are amplifying the number of conversations. By sitting there. Every day. Calmly. Sort of
like—cows.

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