• Ad Age , Friday, June 9, 2006 11:30 AM

Using images of George Washington and Abe Lincoln to sell products is an old idea that usually pops up every February in connection with special "Presidents' Day" sales for everything from clothes to cars. But when one marketer wanted to use the presidential faces on the Mount Rushmore National Monument, officials drew a line in the sand. Proshade, a consumer-eyewear company, offered to pay $4 million to adorn the presidential faces on the Mount Rushmore National Monument with larger-than-life Proshade visors. Not surprisingly, park officials said no thanks. Mount Rushmore "is a national monument, an icon of America," said Gerard Baker, the superintendent of the monument. "I don't want to put anything on those to deviate from what they mean. ... I will not make it commercial." While not the first advertising offer to come to the desk of the National Park Service, this was definitely the first of its kind. "We get offers all the time as far as advertising goes," said Judy Olson, chief of interpretation and visitor services and the public information officer for the monument. "Mount Rushmore is very popular for advertisers." She said she hears around a dozen offers each year for the famous landmark, including one two years ago from a magician who wanted to make the monument disappear.

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