Monday, December 8, 2008
Your professor today is brought to you by Irish Spring Soap.
In the face of budget cuts from the state, the University has to find some way to make ends meet and give students quality educations.
The obvious solution is to make every space on campus available for advertising.
Advertising already surrounds us, though it may be slightly subtler than what I think the University should implement.
Here’s what I picture campus as feeling and looking like next year.
You arrive on campus and no longer ride on a blue bus that has a KU emblem on it. You’re riding on a bus that is sponsored by Gatorade.
As you pass Potter Lake and the hill, a giant oscillating billboard tells you that Wendy’s has a new hamburger that features three patties and six slices of bacon.
Step off the bus and walk to class on our new sidewalks that double as ad space. You’ll be walking right on the products you should buy.
The building you’re walking to will no longer be called by the name it had in the past. Corporations will have the opportunity to place their name in front of the original name of the building (for a nominal fee of course). Nike Wescoe. Microsoft Budig. McDonald’s Memorial Union. Tampax Watkins. The list goes on.
No walls will be painted a plain color. Every space on that wall is sold. Think of how cost effective that is! No blank space means no lost revenue, which means mega-bucks for us.
Before class starts, a speaker mounted in the classroom will announce which brand is bringing your class to you that day: “Your professor today is brought to you by Irish Spring Soap.”
And then in leaps your professor sporting an Irish Spring Soap jump suit (just so that you don’t forget who is helping bring you that class that you’ve paid hundreds of dollars for).
After class, you might be a little thirsty or hungry. But not to worry, The Underground is still around, but there’s a catch — only companies that advertise heavily on campus will be allowed to use space for their products. If you aren’t buying space to advertising you aren’t getting space to sell. Simple as that.
The strangest thing about this hypothetical situation is that after talking to University Relations I’ve found out that there’s no department that handles advertising on campus as a whole, which tells me we don’t have set standards for such a thing. The University has people who sell ad space for the buses, in the Union and for everything that deals with sports, but that’s all I could find.
The people who could implement the placement of a billboard on campus, or some other form of flagrant advertising, would have to be the chancellor or provost.
So what do you say, Hemenway? We sure could use some money. After all, we’re not hiring any new professors next year.
So what’s it going to be: a tuition hike, a fee increase or Gatorade on the sides of buses?
— — Stewart is a Wichita senior in journalism.
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Comments
Stewart: The best way to fight huge budget cuts
putting ads on the sides of the buses would be a great idea. I'm sure the additional revenue could help out with the system and generate a little extra income. Same with the T. While the extra cash won't be much, it would still help out with the bottom line.
There could also be more advertising on building walls or in the newspaper stands on campus, but putting billboards on campus would be difficult due to the historic nature of central campus.
Corporations already sponsor some classes and programs. Deloitte helps out with the accounting classes I believe by offering in classroom technology. Several companies have sponsored classes in the Business school.
Stewart: The best way to fight huge budget cuts
ads on buses fine.
billboards and advertising on building walls not so keen on. there is an aesthetic quality to the campus that should be preserved.
coorporations sponsoring classes would be a huge problem... the university is supposed to be breeding ground for independent thinking...
Stewart: The best way to fight huge budget cuts
Stupid...
Stewart: The best way to fight huge budget cuts
George Patsourakos It would be awkward for the University of Kansas to fight huge budget cuts by having products advertised on University walls and on the campus. A university should be a place of independent thought, and advertising specific products would be contradictory of the goal of a university. While the current economic slide may require some cuts in the KU budget, advertisements in buildings and on the campus should not be used to offset these cuts, since doing so would in fact demean the University!
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