Have you seen the new ads for Ball State University that started running during the Olympics?
President Jo Ann Gora says the university is "not about to settle for No. 2."
Well, the commercials sure look like a bunch of it.
A link to the ads is also on the Ball State Web site - but hopefully not for much longer. Here is the full monologue from the first 30-second spot:
"When you're thought of as third, you're in an interesting situation. We're not the biggest. We don't want to be. We're not about to settle for No. 2. We're a different university. Our students are doers - bright, curious - and our faculty first-rate. This place breeds innovation and success.
"I'm President Jo Ann Gora. And this is a new Ball State."
That's it? A bunch of claims with no proof? The OxiClean guy might be annoying, but at least he shows his product removing last night's burrito stain so we know why we should believe him.
The second commercial is more of the same, with one minor improvement. In the second one, at least we get to see that Ball State has a few students and a few computers, not just a president in a big building with a staircase. Way to go.
First of all, I'd like to know what Gora means in the first ad by saying that being "thought of as third" puts us "in an interesting situation." What interesting situation? Instead of explaining that, she tells us Ball State doesn't want to be the biggest university. Don't all state universities want to be the biggest? Isn't that the point of recruitment ads?
The rest of the commercial delivers a bunch of happy little nouns and adjectives with which to label the university, faculty and students. It's just as meaningless as any other ad that ignores the need for evidence and simply says something is good, better, best.
The second ad tells us that Ball State is "different." But how?
We have "bright, curious students" and "intensely dedicated faculty."
Whew. I'm glad I ended up here and not at any of those schools that are advertising how any idiot can get in and learn from professors who'd rather be playing golf.
Next we see the "amazing technology" of kids in a room with computers. What will Ball State think of next? Hopefully it'll be a commercial with some specifics on what students are actually learning and achieving with that technology.
What about all of the examples of excellence we see posted on the Ball State Web site? I see an alumna who was awarded a fellowship in Germany. Ball State's ranking as the No. 1 wireless campus is listed there, and so is an impressive list of upcoming guests and events. Where was any of that in Gora's little spiels?
It's pretty hard to keep a college recruitment ad from coming across as cheesy - but the ads don't have to be empty. Some of the best ones typically give examples of outstanding achievements by students, faculty or individual departments. We see them all of the time during commercial breaks for college sports. Podunk Tech shows off its newest armpit transplant technique, and Wish-I-Were U. gives us a peek at its new solar-powered car.
Ball State: Don't just say something. Prove it. We students are supposed to have mastered that concept in our essays by the time we're done with English 103 and 104, so why can't the university do it in a commercial? Point to an example, instead of some logo that floats to the top of the television screen.
President Gora, if someone else wrote your lines for those ads, please fire that person. If not, the Writing Competency Exam course will be available again this Summer Semester.
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