Markets love icons. We seek them out. Placeholders, shorthand for a bigger idea or a shortcut to a good enough solution.
Marilyn Monroe is an icon. You can use her image and say a lot, instantly. Same with the Mona Lisa.
Is it possible to be more of a blonde bombshell than Monroe? Of course you can be better looking or more blonde or more married to intellectual celebrities or dour sports stars. Is it possible to paint a better painting than the Mona Lisa? Definitely.
It doesn't matter.
Once there's an icon in place, it's there because it's working. It serves a purpose, it carries useful information and performs a valuable function. There will never (or not for a generation, anyway) be the next Marilyn Monroe because this Marilyn Monroe isn't broken. Countless artists have seen themselves as the next Jackson Pollock, but as far as the lay public is concerned, we don't really need one, thanks very much.
Marilyn Monroe is an icon. You can use her image and say a lot, instantly. Same with the Mona Lisa.
Is it possible to be more of a blonde bombshell than Monroe? Of course you can be better looking or more blonde or more married to intellectual celebrities or dour sports stars. Is it possible to paint a better painting than the Mona Lisa? Definitely.
It doesn't matter.
Once there's an icon in place, it's there because it's working. It serves a purpose, it carries useful information and performs a valuable function. There will never (or not for a generation, anyway) be the next Marilyn Monroe because this Marilyn Monroe isn't broken. Countless artists have seen themselves as the next Jackson Pollock, but as far as the lay public is concerned, we don't really need one, thanks very much.
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