For some reason, I tend to give science museums a lot more leway in criticisms, due to the fact that they tend to walk a parallel path to other history based museums (Well, certainly in the UK).

There is something that makes sense and doesn’t make sense to me about this: the Science Museum in London has a new £2 million exhibition called Cracking Ideas, and the theme is Wallace and Gromit. For those who don’t know, Wallace and Gromit is a series of stop-motion animations by Nick Park. One of the main plot points is Wallace’s love of crazy Goldberg-esque contraptions or bizarre devices (and his use of the adjective “Cracking”).

So, science museum, aimed more at those still in school, Wallace & Gromit, animation, strange machines, must be some science. Yeah, I can see the whole thematic sense even though Wallace’s machines are far more on the side of fantasy and humour than science. But I like I said, I’m more easy going on science museums.

Then I see the original idea came from the Intellectual Property Office.

The exhibition is the idea of the Intellectual Property Office, who decided to plug into the wackiness of Wallace and Gromit in order to increase the flow of people taking out patents on inventions.

It cost £30 to £100 for the IPO’s services. And then it all becomes clear. £2 million to make an exhibition child-friendly by making it look like the world of Wallace & Gromit to shill for the IPO. This isn’t science, this is looking at people’s bad ideas of sellotaping pillows to their head for sleeping on a train.

Wallace and Gromit? Another celebrity endorsement.