you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] 81 points 11 months ago (9 children)

Japan has the right idea, at least for Aquariums.

The Sumida Aquarium at Tokyo Skytree has a stuffed animal version of almost every creature living there, from worms to whale sharks. If you think it’s cute, so do they.

  • source
  • hideshow 9 child comments
  • [–] 50 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    They should keep a running tally of how much money each creature has raised for the museum. Gamify that shit. If you really like the tiger shark but it's somehow losing to the clownfish (seriously what's wrong with these people?! Tiger sharks are so much cooler, ugh!), you're going to be more likely to buy one just to rep for your team.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 24 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

    Get this person an Applied Psychology degree, a copy of "Nudge" by Richard H. Thaler, and a Marketing Executive job position stat!

    I'm only half joking there, you could write a whole thesis titled "Increasing Merchandise Sales through Gamification" where different game mechanics, merch item types, and price points could be measured against profit increases to determine the optimal RRP for a gamified merch item to have a meaningful impact on revenue. That could actually help culturally valuable places like museums who survive off grants, donations, and the gift shop.

  • source
  • parent
  • [–] 7 points 11 months ago (3 children)

    The Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg TN is similar, the kids always love it.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 3 child comments
  • [–] 4 points 11 months ago (2 children)

    Always wild to me how good that place is while being in an otherwise kind of random mountain tourist town.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 2 child comments
  • [–] 3 points 11 months ago (1 child)

    It really is a treasure aint it? I live about 2hrs drive from there, we try to take the kids every year or so.

    Also helps that Dollywood is right there. I grew up near Orlando so when I moved here ~20 years ago I never expected to enjoy a theme park and an aquarium more than the ones I grew up with, but here we are.

  • source
  • parent
  • hideshow 1 child comment
  • [–] 2 points 11 months ago

    I've never been! I always assumed it would be kinda trash, to be honest. I grew up coastal, and our aquariums were awesome. I'll have to check them out if a Floridian thinks a mountain aquarium is worth the visit. Haha

  • source
  • parent