LYNNFIELD — A flock of hot pink flamingos is slated to descend on MarketStreet, just in time for April Fools’ Day.
The flamingos are part of a WS Development initiative to usher in spring with a quirky and cheerful celebration of warmer weather ahead that will see large flocks of anywhere from 200 to 1,500 flamingos making their way to several WS Development shopping locations in the Greater Boston area from March 5 through April 12.
“Our flamingo installation allows visitors to find humor in the unusual, the absurd and the unexpected when they visit four of our New England properties this March and April,” said WS Development Director of Field Marketing Lindsay Binette.
“With the pink lawn flamingo’s origins in Massachusetts, there is a wonderful connection to Massachusetts-made pop art with this installation, making it all the more fun and meaningful to us. We are always looking to create special experiences for the community and hope guests at our properties smile ear to ear when they pass by our green spaces this spring,”
The flamingos made their debut Friday, with 200 of them flying south to Derby Street in Hingham, where they were greeted by a steel drummer playing live music.
From there, the flock heads to Boston’s Seaport District where 1,500 will pop up on Seaport Common from March 22-30. The flock splits on April 1 with 400 birds flying west to The Street Chestnut Hill Mall and 1,000 flying north to MarketStreet, where they will stay through April 12. Updates on the flock’s journey will be shared via WS properties’ digital channels on social media with the hashtag #whattheflock.
Nearly all of the birds will be reproductions of the originals that are locally-made and designed by the late Massachusetts artist, Don Featherstone, who created the iconic birds after being asked to sculpt a new lawn object for the Leominster-based company, Union Products. The Massachusetts native had never seen a flamingo in real life, but playfully sketched out a design by referring to photos in National Geographic Magazine, and his masterpiece was born.
In the post-World War II era, Featherstone’s pink flamingo quickly grew in popularity, and lawns all over the country were soon adorned with the colorful plastic birds, igniting conversations of class, conjuring thoughts of exotic travels, and providing no shortage of humor.
The quirky creation became so famous that it won Featherstone an Ig Nobel Prize for art from Improbable Research Magazine in 1966. Today, Featherstone’s original pink flamingos continue to be manufactured by Union Products and are world-renowned for their design elements: stick-thin legs, elegantly curved necks, intricate feather detailing, and, of course, Featherstone’s distinctive signature on their stomachs.
In recent years the flamingos have developed a cult following in many local communities, including Lynnfield, which have used the birds for “you’ve been flocked” fundraising campaigns.
The campaigns involve deploying a flock of pink plastic flamingos in someone’s yard or outside a business entrance. A note is left explaining that the person or business has been selected by someone to be “flocked” for a good cause. Typically, the person who has been flocked is asked to donate a sum of money to have them relocated to another location. The fun part is that each flocking victim then gets to pick the next victim. The flocking process continues for the duration of the fundraising event, or until the flock migrates to a new destination.
Anne Marie Tobin can be reached at [email protected].
