Melissa, and List -

A cautionary display was burned into my memory during childhood. MANY years
ago I visited a zoo or aquarium. Which facility, what year, what state or
country I was in has long since left my memory bank....but what I vividly
remember is  a placard bearing the photograph of a seal's tummy, at autopsy,
laden with copper pennies (ok, it must have been in the States).  Two, maybe
three lines of text, along the lines: "Please don't throw coins in the seal
pool. The animals eat them, and die a slow and painful death."  WOW.  Not
only do I refrain from throwing wishing coins in pools shared by zoo
animals, I don't do it, period. To this day!

Perhaps you could commission a similar sign.  Why, exactly (and in ugly
detail) is the gum a problem?  Obviously most of us find it disgusting, but
effective graphic representation to personalize it might work.  Hey... I
often hear about Singapore banning gum. Perhaps someone from Singapore would
have access to signage that conveys the message with effective emphasis? I
searched the 'net and could not find a source, although I located the
cultural spokeswoman, ironically named: Chew Lai Leng.

Short of a ready-made sign....the list could contribute all their pet peeves
as to what makes gum so very hellish. Send photos, nightmare gum stories,
whatever.  Creatively venting our collective spleen could be the input for a
graphic artist.   I located the advertising agency that handles Wrigley's.
Contacting them and requesting that they use their considerable talent to
produce such a sign (as opposed to letting us do it...which might not
reflect as well on the gum industry) might work.  AAM/listers might adopt
the sign as a convention. It seems the more  the public sees a sign, the
more likely it will become a recognizable icon, thus an effective
communication.


Beth

PS. My 14 and 11 year olds, when consulted about what motivates kids to
stick their gum EVERYWHERE, suggested that a gum wad drive might work.
Designate an area where you are "collecting gum" to form the largest
possible gum wad to enter in Guinness Book of World Records.  As it was
dinner time, I had to get them to stop speculating on what this display
would look like and how it would be maintained. I wasn't sure I could remain
interested in my supper.....;-)

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://museums.state.nm.us/nmmnh/museum-l.html. You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to
[log in to unmask] The body of the message should read "Signoff
Museum-L" (without the quotes).