A chance to corner the market

Global warming has upped the ante--an entire species wiped out:

The pink plastic flamingo, a Florida-inspired icon that has been reviled as kitschy bad taste and revered as retro cool, is dead at age 49.

The pop culture symbol met its demise after its manufacturer, Union Products, of Leominster, Mass., was socked with a triple economic threat -- increases in costs of electricity and plastic resin combined with loss of financing. Production ended in June, and the plant is scheduled to close Nov. 1, according to president and CEO Dennis Plante. Union Products made 250,000 of its patented plastic pink flamingos a year in addition to other garden products.

Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University, paid tribute to the infamous bird that has been immortalized everywhere -- from the John Waters' movie Pink Flamingos, to bachelor parties and lawns across America.

"Let's face it," he said. "As iconic emblems of kitsch, there are two pillars of cheesy, campiness in the American pantheon. One is the velvet Elvis. The other is the pink flamingo."

Bachelor parties? I haven't been to that many bachelor parties, but I'm pretty sure I've never seen a pink flamingo at one. Or maybe my attention was elsewhere.

Read the rest of the article--you never know the value to collectors. Especially the commemorative gold flamingos that were to have celebrated the 50th anniversary in 2007. For those looking to corner the market, keep an eye out on the companies expressing interest in buying the molds and resurrecting the icon.
(Picture from the Sun-Sentinel article)