Skydiving = great education!
Saw the following commercial for Dakota State University – a smaller state school about an hour or two north of Sioux Falls – on a random local channel
ANNCR:
The world moves pretty fast.
An adequate education is not enough when it’s time to be a leader.
Dakota State University offers you the edge you need to stay ahead of the game.
You only live once. Make it count!
Dare to do, at DSU. Dakota State University, Madison, SD.
VIDEO:
ANNCR always talks to camera.
ANNCR in suit, inexplicably on top of building, holding arms in air. Cut to shot of ANNCR walking through computer server room. Cut to generic campus shots. Cut to ANNCR sitting behind a random, nondescript desk, pointing at camera. ANNCR gets up, dives through doorway…
…and cut to gratuitous shot of ANNCR skydiving. ANNCR gives thumbs up. Cut to DSU graphic. End.
My questions.
1. Does the degree come packed with as many clichés as you see here? I hope so. This is worse than a half-time interview with Bill Belichick. “We played hard and gave 110%, and we have a lot of respect for those guys, but we’re just taking the season one game at a time.”
2. Do shots of a desk signify your ability to secure a high paying job? Does a computer server room signify the school’s dedication to high technology? Does a shot from on top of a roof show limitless potential? I hope so, and not that these shots came at the whim of the announcer character. “Hey, let’s take a shot on top of the roof! Whoa!”
3. Skydiving? Seriously. What? Skydiving?
I wish you could see the spot. Alas, it’s not on YouTube. Just another reason you shouldn’t rely on your student editors to create your commercials.
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UPDATE: I seem to have upset someone – I’m guessing someone involved with the production of the spot.
My apologies if I’ve upset anyone. Please contact me in person next time – or at least leave an e-mail address that I can properly respond to.
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SECOND UPDATE: I realize I haven’t mentioned something – it is obvious by the comments and by people I’ve talked to that this spot wasn’t produced by students at DSU. This was done by an outside agency. So ignore the comment that says “Just another reason you shouldn’t rely on your student editors to create your commercials.” And apologies to student editors for the insult.