To all students who currently list their major as "undecided," I have a suggestion: Try advertising.
It falls under the Department of Journalism, which is good news for anyone who wants to take no more than one math class and is seeking to avoid chemistry, physics or any mildly difficult class in general.
Above all else, advertising is a great field to enter because companies will hire just about anyone to do their ads.
My basis for this suggestion is the disturbing increase in some of the most ridiculous commercials and advertisements of all-time. Nearly every day, I come across a commercial that I deem the worst I have ever seen.
It used to be only the local commercials shown on Comcast that were atrocious; now even giant corporations have a tough time coming up with anything close to a good ad.
Muncie businesses have a large number of local television and radio ads that are hard to take seriously. It is sometimes difficult to decide whether they are trying to be funny, or if that the commercial is so bad it unintentionally comes off as humorous.
Whenever I'm feeling down, all I have to do to cheer up is remember the old Sirloin Stockade commercial in which the guy approaches the grill master and asks, "Can I have one more? Medium raaaaaaare."
As an avid AM radio listener, I have been on the receiving end of several entertaining political ads over the last month.
They are all the same. The advertising candidate is always in favor of family values and lowering taxes. The candidate's opponent always votes against funding for schools and education, and often times, has bad breath.
Not to sound partisan, but Republican State Representative candidate Bill Davis' radio ads are so absurd I laugh out loud every time I hear them. The voice-over tells us how his opponent voted against school bus funding, which is such a pressing issue. The ad also informs us how Bill Davis "balanced the budget." I assume they are referring to his personal checking account, because last I checked Indiana is in major debt.
The reason these ads achieve success is due to the gullibility of the American public.
Despite overwhelming evidence of how unhealthy fast food is, McDonald's continues to rake in the public by subliminally telling them that "they're loving it." Thanks largely to those fast food corporations, the major issue of childhood obesity in America continues to grow as the ads keep coming.
All is not lost for the advertising industry; some companies actually know what they're doing with their commercials.
Two of the most profitable companies in America, Nike and Apple, can thank their success on exceptional commercials.
Nike sets itself apart by not simply advertising a pair of shoes, but successfully selling the idea that the consumer is wearing Michael Jordan's or Michael Vick's shoes.
Apple manages to project a dominating comparison to PCs by simply using a white background and two actors.
A smart consumer is an aware consumer. It is in everyone's best interest to be able to recognize bad advertising. Until this dramatic change in the American consumer happens, graduate with a degree in advertising before companies set advertising hiring standards.
Danny Davis is a junior journalism major and writes 'You Know What Really Grinds My Gears?' for the Daily News. His views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper.
Write to Danny at dsdavis@bsu.edu.
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