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One of the many pleasures of watching FX’s 1980s Cold War drama “The Americans,” now in the thick of season two, is delving into its rich world of spy-related tradecraft. Some of these details, such as crossword puzzle ciphers or fooling a polygraph by clenching one’s anus, are so dramatically intriguing it’s hard to believe they are anything but the stuff of Hollywood invention.
But truth is stranger than fiction, an adage once again proven true by a new exhibit at the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, that juxtaposes the world of “The Americans” with real-life espionage artifacts from the 1980s. Created in partnership with FX, the museum worked with the network’s integrated promotions team to pair props from the set of “The Americans” with spy gear recovered from real-life missions of the era.
“It might have been a bit of a challenge in how to craft this if ‘The Americans’ had not been so closely tied to reality,” said Dr. Mark Stout, director of the Master of Arts in Global Security Studies program at Johns Hopkins University and a consultant on the exhibit. “While the show, like any television show, makes things particularly dramatic, it has a really strong grounding in truth, so I never felt like I was in danger of having to implicitly criticize the show or undercut the brand or anything like that. This was a really easy project to work on and a lot of fun.”
Visitors who attend “The Americans: Fact and Fantasy” at the International Spy Museum, will find themselves immersed in the lives of three real-life Soviet spies – known to Russia as “illegals” – who embedded themselves on American turf using many of the devices utilized by characters on the series. Props such as call-girl costume wigs and a subminiature camera designed by Minox were very much a part of their actual techniques, and are juxtaposed with similar items from the museum’s collection of artifacts. In 2010, 10 members of the Illegals Program were arrested in a high-profile case that included the larger-than-life personality of Anna Chapman, a strikingly beautiful agent who would later model in Russia’s version of “Maxim,” among other outlets.
For FX, creating this kind of an installation in an unexpected locale such as a museum is a way to target new viewers with great loyalty potential. Spy Museum goers are clearly interested in espionage, but “aren’t necessarily aware that we have programming that would appeal to them,” said Kenya Hardaway, VP of integrated promotions at FX. “‘The Americans’ is a show that is very unique from what somebody might think would be FX programming. Integrating with [this] partner gives us an opportunity to reach out to them in a place where they’re not expecting us to show up and present them… a more in-depth look than they might see passing a billboard or seeing a print ad.”
And for fans who already love the show, the exhibit helps cement their adulation, said Ramy Gorkowski, director of integrated promotions at FX, who spearheaded the Spy Museum partnership.
“There is so much fragmentation in terms of content people can consume, so having this kind of interaction helps build brand loyalty. Once someone engages with a brand so directly like that, they become more loyal to that brand. They want to watch the show more. They want to check it out if they’ve never seen it. They actually feel like the brand took the time to have a one-on-one experience with them.”
Fans of the show will have plenty more opportunities to experience it in the months to come: At FX’s recent Upfront presentation, FX Networks CEO John Landgraf said viewers should expect “a formal season three order soon.”
“The Americans: Fact and Fantasy” runs through May at the International Spy Museum, 800 F Street NW, Washington, DC 20004.
“The Americans,” now in Season 2, runs on FX Wednesdays at 10 pm.
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