Corporate sponsorship and modern art will unite in the center of Penn's Superblock next fall when the Tampax logo is branded onto the side of the sculpture located at Locust Walk and 39th Street.
Tampax has decided to sponsor the large, red work of modern art -- known to students only as "the tampons" -- by donating an undisclosed sum to the University in return for the clearly placed Tampax insignia. The sign should be in place by September.
"People already associate it with us anyway," Tampax spokeswoman Terry Gordon said of the new advertising campaign.
"We thought this was a prime opportunity, a chance to show our support for art, higher education and women's health."
Tampax has been in talks with University President Amy Gutmann since February.
"We thought this was a great opportunity to add to the University's funds," Gutmann said. "Plus, it will raise awareness about women's health and the need for tampons in every Penn undergraduate's life."
Like always, student reaction was mixed. Some liked it; some didn't like it; others, well, they didn't really care.
"I think this is a disgrace," College sophomore Lea Markovich said. "I'm double majoring in fine arts and women's studies, and this is insulting to me in every way. They are marking a beautiful vision of femininity and modern art with vile corporate trash."
While some agreed that the Tampax sponsorship was "selling out," many thought it was a good idea.
"Who really cares if it's making a billboard out of some statue that's basically crappy modern art anyway," Wharton freshman Pierce Westen said. "The University is getting more money, that's what's really important."
College and Wharton junior Parker J. Howellsmith III agreed.
"It's damned ugly to begin with," he said. "Money talks and modern art sucks, is what it comes down to."
As with those who disagree with the innate difference between modern art and garbage, Howellsmith has little sympathy.
"They should bloody well get over it," he said. "No pun intended."
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