Beyoncé’s country album (that she says “ain’t a country album”) Cowboy Carter will release one week from today.
There’s been equal amounts of excitement and skepticism surrounding the project. For example, country music star Dolly Parton said that she looks forward to hearing Beyoncé’s take on country, while hip-hop artist Azealia Banks eviscerated what she deemed as a “white woman cosplay” album.
For all of the strange storylines surrounding Cowboy Carter, the singles released ahead of the album have already had success, although at this point in her career, anything Beyoncé does will be successful. “Texas Hold ‘Em” debuted at the top the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, making Beyoncé the first black female artist to debut at the top spot.
There shouldn’t be that much need for advertising with Beyoncé’s country album, considering all of the anticipation and conversation surrounding the new project. But the R&B/pop artist decided to get creative with promotion anyways, and projected images and messages onto famous New York museums
The Guggenheim, the New Museum, the Whitney and the Museum of Arts and Design all had Cowboy Carter themed advertising projected up onto their walls this past week. “This ain’t a country album. This is a Beyoncé album” was shot onto the famous architecture of the Guggenheim museum:
And the album cover art, with Beyoncé sitting on top of a white horse while holding the American flag, was projected onto the sides of the other museums:
You would have thought that Beyoncé’s media team would have okayed these projections before going through with them, but they are instead being called “publicity stunts.” Translation: Beyoncé didn’t get proper authorization from the museums before going through with the advertising.
All four of the landmarks told the New York Post that they were “not informed” with the activation of the promotional messaging and images. However, none of the museums were upset by the stunt, and instead decided to use the attention to encourage people to visit their exhibits.
Beyoncé must believe in the “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than get permission” mantra? I guess at the end of the day, that is more a cowboy thing to do…
